There I was merrily going down a nice bit of track this morning on an extended commute when out of the corner of my eye I see a branch russel above me. No panic, just the wildlife being surprised again. However this squirrel was so surprised that it fell out of the tree on to my helmet and then shoulder before legging it in to the undergrowth. I was not going that fast, and the brach was way over my head, so it must have just slipped off right over me.

Fortunately it did not seem to be hurt (only squirrel prode I guess) and it made we lasugh all the way back to work.

So what was your strangest wildlife happening on the trail.

😆

Ran over a seagul in Torquay.

Well, by “ran over” I mean his whole being appeared to go ‘thrrrrang’ through the front spokes.

A lot of feathers were displaced around TQ1.

He lived to steal chips another day.

manton69 earlier today

Deer attempting to leap a train of riders clipped my mates bars with it’s hoof and chipped/scratched the carbon!

A Squirrel fell on my head about 18 months ago.

It hit a few twigs and stuff on the way down – I thought it was a small branch coming down.

It even did that ‘look back and see what I tripped on’ thing that people do when they fall over for no apparent reason.

very odd.

Mate was riding about 6-7 metres in front of me on a quantocks climb when a stag entered stage left knocked him off his bike and exited stage right.

It only just touched him fortunately and it was more self preservation that took the rider down rather than the full force of the stag attack.

I’ve run over a rat on the local canal a few years back, it died with a pop like jumping on a crisp packet.

Pigface had a very emotional encounter with a crow or something a whole back. He’ll be along to tell you about it soon. Piggie!!! To the thread please. 🙂

Not riding but windsurfing have hit a Carp on a lake in Germay. Was a rapid dismount over the front moment.

We were at gisburn the other day when the was a deer on the track ahead of us (just after the wood going up to the crag). We stopped to generally admire it for a bit and it didn’t know we were there, but then deciding to get we made some noise to alert it to our presence, and started slowly riding towards it. It looked up and turned to face us and then started stamping its front hooves on the ground and generally squaring up to us in a “come and a ****ing go mate” did this for about 15 seconds intil to get a better look me made rode out from behind me to along side me, and which point it bounced off into the woods. But was long enough for me to wonder what I would actually do if it charged us.

was windsurfing along one day and a goose came splash/flying alongside – I thought it was attacking but the bleeding thing jumped on the bow and stayed there for about 5 minutes as I sailed around this lake

have been forced into the shrubbery by a deer, singletrack, about 4 of us in a line, big deer, at a fair speed coming towards us, it just wasn’t stopping so we all had to bale into the shrubbery

I was in the garden the other week cleaning the bike and a Robin just came up and landed on my shoulder 😀
I actually spoke to it and it just sat there for 30 – 40 seconds then I wanted to go in the house and said “go on then” raising my voice and it then jumped off me onto the fence, then flew away very strange indeed, nice but strange.

There was once a few waxwings on the cyclepath in front of me. As I approached some scattered left, some right, and one tiny fledgeling baby went one way, hesitated, looked the other way, by which time I was upon it so it crouched in terror. I had no time to steer or brake, and ran over the poor cowering thing. It still makes me feel really sad.. I was on 23mm slicks too so it was pretty unlucky.

🙁

Was staying on the outskirts of Livigno (Italy) and was walking to get some bread first morning when I saw a wolf out of the corner of my eye about 50 yards away. Carried on but bought some ham and cooked sausage ‘just in case’ for the way back. Sure enough it was still there so I threw a sausage 1/2 way and it trotted forward and ate it.

This went on for a few days, each time it got closer until day 5 when it came and took it from my hand.

I felt quite proud of my animal taming skills until…….while looking around an apartment with a view to future ski trips, in walked the wolf which the owner had had since it was a pup 😳

There was a peacock outside Geoffrey butlers in south Croydon. Does that count?

Ooohhh. Just remembered another one. Tootling along some fire road up Simonside a timely bunnhop saved a basking Adder. Only the second one i can remember seeing.

I nearly ran over a buzzard on an early morning spin round the Marin.

More recently I can safely say I’ve had to brake very hard for kangaroos and emus, and watched a Koala goad and shout at a dog that was bothering it!

Got a few, only one involves bikes though, used to work in a hotel out in the sticks and rode home late one night along the canal. Heard a strange noise just to the side of me and there was a badger running along just behind my pedal. Stayed there for about 30 yards then went into the bushes.

Manager at the same hotel came back one night with a dead crow which was frozen solid. It had fallen out of a tree and gone straight through his car headlight!

And one last one! Hit a bat at about 60mph and it wedged under the wiper so I stopped and put it on the gatepost. It looked dead but after about 5 minutes it had a good stretch of its wings and flew off! Tough little things!

A few years ago at night I was overtaken by a white escort van with a roofrack. Stuck on the front of the rack with its massive wings spread out in the wind was a huge pale coloured owl. Poor thing must have swooped low over the road and been collected by the car.

About a year ago I was out on the roadie with a pal, descending a hill in a deep lane. Suddenly two deer jumped the fence and landed in front of us, forcing us and a car coming up the hill to brake sharply. One deer made it over the opposite fence but the other didn’t, it bounced back and fell into the road. It was trapped between us and the car so it tried again, and again and again, each time bouncing back with scrabbling hooves in a blind panic. Finally on about the fifth frantic attempt it cleared the fence it had first come over and we rode on through a huge cloud of dust, leaves, debris and deer hairs it had kicked up. I was still spitting hairs out of my mouth a minute later!

Maaany years ago I was motorbiking over the A686 from Penrith to Alston, a fantastic road on a fast bike early in the morning. I came over a crest at about 90 and there crossing the road in front of me was a family of stoats or weasels, Dad, three kids and Mum, in a row like two large yellow dashes with three smaller dashes in between. I knew I had no chance of avoiding them at that speed so kind of willed my bike wheels into the gap between two of them. Milliseconds later I had a glimpse of the same formation of five yellow dashes in a mirror so I rode on thinking – hoping – I hadn’t killed one or two of them. Still feel bad about it today.

Ran a grey squirrel over at chopwell a few months back, thank god it didn’t go through the spokes! It had a brief fit then pegged it. 😥 I put it in the nearby field for the red kites to enjoy.

Ran over an adder at Thrunton, it didn’t see too happy when i went back tried pulling it out of the heather for a photo.

Had a stag jump out on a nightride at thrunton years ago when 10w halogen was bright, that scared the life out of me. It was only because it was wet I was going a bit slower that possibly saved me.

driing along the motorway in my campervan I spied an owl swooping down the embankment towards the verge [ middle of the day ] coulodn’t move as I was in traffic, it flew straight down after whatever prey it was chasing and got splattered all over my registration plate. Last three letters of my registration = LWE [ german for bird ]

I used to run the gauntlet most days through a travelers camp on my way to work……never quite knew which caravan the deer hound/lurcher would bolt from but he was always there…i was pretty fit back then. 😯

I was hit by a bat last night. I wasn’t going fast as the track was quite overgrown and as I was enjoing watching them flit in and out of my helmet light, then thunk! Straight into my left ear. Stupid beast! 😆

I’ve seen a rabbit jump into the spokes of the wheel in front of mine, made a bloody mess of its face :s

My mum, and a couple of other folk I know have had birds of prey either dive bomb them, or touch their claws against their helmets 😮

I’ve also had to dispatch a rabbit after it had run between my wheels, hit my left crank then went under the back wheel. That didn’t finish it off so I had to wring it’s neck. Not a nice feeling 😐

Have had a couple of squirrels fall off trees. Most recently last year in the dark just a grey furball wooosh straight in front of my face I felt it brush against my knee and it was gone.

Also a stag a couple of years ago again in the dark during the rutting season it just appeared alongside me in the undergrowth close enough to smell its breath.

This is in addition to adders (two this year they look just like sticks) and the usual badgers, weasel/stoat type things, bunnies etc

Have also collided with a couple of birds while on the motorbike. One was a random black thing that just flapped lazily out of the hedgerow and hit me on the shoulder/chest. Wasn’t going too fast maybe 50-60 but it felt like a solid punch from a 12-year old 🙂 Another time it was a sparrow thing like a missile it smeared itself on the visor again not going too fast but I never saw it coming.

Fricken wild animals they are so unpredictable

I ran over a slow worm on the road bike on a descent. It had been raining and my eyes were pretty watery. I only saw it last second. Turned around and went back but it managed to squirm away into the bush. Felt pretty bad.

I had to brake to a halt when I saw a squirrel dash across the path in front of me. Once I’d stopped, I saw a baby squirrel behind, and it wandered nervously up to me, clambered through my now static front wheel and then out the other side to rejoin its mother.

I also saw a procession of ducks walking across a main road in Edinburgh at around 6am, again a quick stop was required.

I’ve had a head-on with a bat – I’m sure I can recall the startled look in its eyes as it spread itself across my glasses before continuing its journey over the top of my helmet.

While living in the US I was mobbed by Red-winged blackbirds and also came very close to poking a water moccasin with my bike pump as it basked on the road. Makes last Saturday’s sight of a squirrel bouncing off my mate’s front rotor quite dull.

once my friend and me were out riding our bikes.i had stopped to wait for him in a lay by.
opposite was a farm with a building directly opposite me.suddenly over the roof flew a pigeon swiftly chased by a kestrel.as soon as they saw me,both the pigeon/kestrel changed direction,suddenly both crashing to the ground beside me 😯
said pigeon then flies through 5 bar gate/followed by kestrel,gains height,then kestrel catches pigeon.they both crash to ground,pigeon escapes and flies off (quickly pursued by the kestrel/glad they both were unarmed from flying through the gate).
the kestrel then gets divebombed by numerous crows e.t.c whilst said pigeon makes it’s escape 😀
PHEW! 🙂

Used to get attacked by a crow type thing in Australia as I went past it’s tree.
It must have been quite a common occurrence as some riders had fake eyes on the back of their helmets so the birds thought they were being looked at .

Used to get attacked by a crow type thing in Australia as I went past it’s tree.
It must have been quite a common occurrence as some riders had fake eyes on the back of their helmets so the birds thought they were being looked at .

That would be these bastards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Magpie

It’s getting towards spring here. Time to get nervous again…

Attacked by a Buzzard in Yair Forest. Swooped from behind hitting my helmet and then turned and attacked head on narrowly missing me as I swerved out the way.
They are scary big birds when 6 inches from your face with claws outstretched!

Mate was last seen hiding in bushes!

I recon there’s some more milage left in this photo..

Not mine i’m afraid though

Hit a submerged hippo in a (slow) motor boat on Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
Scared the crap outa me as we bounced over the top.

Got to be done really…
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2oymHHyV1M[/video]

Few years ago i was on a road ride through Holsworthy in Devon, when a buzzard (i think) swooped down from behind me i could see its shadow on the road next to me and then a big whoosh and thud as it put its talons into the back of my helmet. When i stopped sprinting away and slowed down, at least 20 miles up the road, i found my helmet had puncture marks all through at the back and it had pierced the shell.
Apparently said bird was known for attacking cyclists in the area as it had babys to protect.

Have also run over a basking adder it was on a pretty fast downhill and both wheels went over I did stop and look back and it was writhing about so I decided not to go back in case it was injured and went for me shortly after I saw a buzzard circling so I hope if the snake was badly hurt he may have gone and finished it off. Could have been a lot worse (for me not the snake) often had to untangle branches and brambles from the cassette or between the wheel and chainstay wouldn’t fancy having to untangle an angry snake from my bike!

Also had an owl give a million decibel “TOOWIIIT!!” at me about three foot from my ear on a solo night ride. I hadn’t even seen him and it scared the sh?t out of me! There’s a camp-site at the bottom if the woods and people staying there must have wondered why an owls screech was answered by a bloke shouting swear words in the middle of the night!

Thinking about it we’ve had a few incidents with fauna over the years. As well as the previously mentioned deer:

We once all climbed over a style into a narrow footpath (yeah, yeah…) it was a metre or so wide with a fence one side and a hedge the other and it was dark. The horse that had got out of its field and got stuck in it panicked by our lights charged us. We had nowhere to go! A few minor injuries and bits of damage from that one!

We had another deer which we accidentally cornered (again on a night ride) that charged and jumped over us.

On another night: my mate felt an impact and something clinging to his chest: on inspection it was a bat!

I came round a corner once to face a young badger hissing and spitting at me from about 3 feet away.

Found an adder happily basking in the sun right next to the start of a section of trail at Kirroughtree.

When doing a heli drop in Whistler we spotted a cat like creature sat on a rock some distance away. Someone asked “is that a cougar?” Our guide replied “No. That’s a bobcat. If you see a cougar? It’s too late!!”

I’ve seen plenty of other wildlife without incident (bears, foxes, owls, etc etc). Always a highlight in a ride.