Well, taken by surprise last night near the end of the ride by this:
[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5794/21643800058_58a95df6e8_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5794/21643800058_58a95df6e8_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/yYA8Gw ]The Binfield Heath Wallaby![/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/turkey_plucker/ ]Matthew Walker[/url], on Flickr
A Wallaby! Near Reading!?
I was aware of a few small populations in the UK (escapees from wildlife parks), but never thought i'd see one. It turns out this one has been seen and photographed a few weeks ago by some dog walkers. It's currently roaming around the woods near Binfield Heath, S Oxfordshire. Still, it's an exotic change from encountering deer and badgers!
few years back I saw two pink bodied animals in a car steaming up the windows, night rides huh?
Very good...except mine is genuine, and sighted before in the same place:
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/binfield-heath-wallaby-spotted-twice-9966728
I regularly see Zebra on my rides. Riding past a zoo helps.
Blue Whales..... Haven't seen a single one on any of my rides.
My user name is taken from the local exotic wildlife. The only firm evidence of it's existence, other than a dozen or so sightings, is this.....
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[url= http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/panther-watch-claw-found-greenhead-2570382 ]Panther Claw found at Perchy Pond[/url]
I look out for it every time I ride my bike
I think i saw it last night but it wasn't as big as I expected..
[img] https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTf9uuBwSIVaUf-HKKt5O3zscEtSNoP-G4_3Vrz4HFsbiA9sLWg [/img]
I saw a dead badger the other day at the side of the road, it had gone all rotten and it's bowels had loosened around the time of it's death and it stank. Shall I post a picture?
Ah, the fug of singletrack cynicism, how lovely. I saw a wallaby last night on a ride, and i grabbed a couple of photos on my phone. It's been seen before in the same place, but i still think it's pretty amazing to see one in the British countryside. There's quite a difference between a dead badger and a live Wallaby, isn't there?
yeah I was joking, seeing a wallaby is wicked. I love all the wildlife you see on a ride, particularly like riding with bats and there's something magical about riding down a trail with bats swooping around your head. People who don't cycle will never understand. My most exotic/rare creature I've seen is a weasel.
I ran over a badger on my last ride, it just popped out of the hedge.
Luckily I was on a 29er so the improved rollability of the wheels and small bump compliance meant I hardly felt it......... (it actually scared the crap out of me and felt like someone had grabbed the back wheel!)
Saw a red kite Sunday, which I guess is rare in some areas, but to quote a local farmer "They're like f******g crows round yer now!"
We spent 10 minutes watching a nearly fledged peregrine chick on its nest and an adult close by on the face of Gullet quarry a few weeks ago. That was a treat.
No wallaby on the common though
Yeah, it's great to see wildlife out and about, and happens so much more on the mtb. Seeing a Weasel is cool, they're so quick and small...
Saw a lizard 2 weeks ago at Gisburn, thought that was pretty cool.
A lizard, or a newt?
I saw a mink recently which was quite cool. And even more recently, I spooked a kestrel which then flew about 3 inches over my head. It was magnificent.
Saw a red squirrel a couple of weeks ago, also heard a tiger's roar on a night ride once. Quite unnerving to hear in the dark, it carried quite a distance from the zoo!
One of the best was hammering down my favourite bit of woody singletrack with a barn owl flying just above my head in front picked out by the helmet light. Wonderful!
Mainly I see deer and a whole variety of birds, mostly swans, geese, various ducks, etc. Often woodpeckers too. Loads of rabbits as well.
All pretty much the usual stuff I guess but I'm always pleased to see wildlife on a ride.
I've chased a kangaroo down some singletrack near Castlemaine, VIC. I guess not totally unexpected there.
See lots of small birds of prey, weasels, stoats.
[b]ir_bandito - Member[/b]I've chased a kangaroo down some singletrack near Castlemaine, VIC. I guess not totally unexpected there.
No, they're xxxx-ing everywhere!
Saw a red kite Sunday, which I guess is rare in some areas, but to quote a local farmer "They're like f******g crows round yer now!"
Talking of Red Kites, now that all the trees have gone it's quite a weird experience if you hit the final descent at Nant Yr Arian at the same time they are feeding the Kites down by the lake - it feels like they are everywhere around you!
It's in the news now so it must be true:
I had just done a steep rocky climb on my very local loop a couple of weeks ago, taking it easy on the Patriot, so I was sat on my bike by the gate at the top much longer than required to get my breath back since it was a lovely day and I was chillin. I suppose I'd been there for 5 minutes when I saw something brown in the corner of my eye. A weasel had very clearly run over to me to see what I was, it hopped onto a log at the end of a thicket of branches about 6 feet away and stared straight at me for a few seconds. I don't know whether I scared it or it decided I wasn't worth bothering with, cos it just ran away again into the undergrowth.
I'd seen a couple before abroad, but only fleeting glances from a car, this was fantastic - very close.
Night riding through Bushey Park last weekend. Its full of deer, pretty eerie with the grunting and lots of pairs of eyes shining in the beam of my light.
Have seen a few adders on the Chase. And wild pigs
Apart from all the werewolves/yetis/hobbits obv
Have seen a few adders on the Chase
I saw one on the Taff Trail by Tesco, about 2 miles from the City Centre!
Saw a couple of eagles the other week whilst out riding. I was in the pyrenees though!!
Nothing. I live in China. I think all the locals have eaten the local wildlife.
i did see a pine marten once as i was cycling to cherhill monument. quite unusual as i live in devizes wiltshire. it suddenly appeared on the trail,stopped but scarpered when it saw me cycling towards it. chuffed i was to see it ๐
Not on a ride, and not actually wildife as such, but found this massive paw-print in the south of France a few years ago:
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3403/3614988758_50b8c2471b_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3403/3614988758_50b8c2471b_b.jp g"/> [/img]
(my foot and leg for scale)
What's that thing on your shifter?
Snake in the Chilterns this summer (turns out it was a legless lizard, but that's a snake in my book)
Bunny hopped a proper big snake while riding in India and regularly saw Elephants.
Massive Moose and a Grizzly swimming across a lake in Canada. Grizzly was great till he got to the beach and we realised he was on the same bit of land as our trail, so we rode off in a hurry.
Looks like a mirror - probably a good idea if you live around stalking animals! ๐
I almost ran over an otter on a night ride on the south side of rombalds moor (above Silsden)
Apparently they are thriving in the Aire and there is a dingly dell stream that runs up onto the moor from there.
Big buggers, bloody quick as well.
Watched a weasel kill a rabbit a few weeks ago near Thoralby then take it off into the grass , and about 5 years caught one pushing a pheasants egg over a cycleway/old railway line .
Commuting back to Stoke Newington last night I hopped onto the pavement just outside the flat and missed hitting a fox by a whisker. It gave me a "Who the hell do you think you are" look and strolled off. Not that exotic but it's insouciance was impressive.
Was surprised to see bats 550m up at the top of the Pentland hills last night, miles from the nearest roost, was completely still which doesn't happen very often up there.
How d'you like that hub?






