Have You Noticed This About Wildlife?

[Gravity Aided]

I find that birds and small animals allow a much closer approach with recumbent bicycles than with upright bicycles.

 

[steveindenmark]

When I had my ICE trike I was riding to work very early in the morning when I saw an animal on the road. From a distance I thought it was a dog. But when I got closer closer I realised it was a badger. As I got closer it began to run and I caught it up until we were side by side for about 50 metres. I didnt know badgers could run that fast. It then dived into the ditch, just as a polar bear would dive into the water.

Im not sure about your animals and recumbent theory. Maybe its because they cannot see you as quickly as if you were on a bike.

 

[Drago]

I've noticed rabbits seem scarce this year, but hares seem quote common.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

If I hadn’t the word of @Gravity Aided I would have surmised a recumbent would represent danger. Low, stealthy and ready to pounce.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I moved from an area where Blue Jays were quite accustomed to humans, like Robins, but here, 40 miles east, they are quite shy. They are there, but you rarely see them from an upright bicycle. A recumbent, however, seems not to register, and I see them regularly. Rabbits, ground squirrels, chipmunks, ducks, and wild turkeys also seem to not be as fazed by the approach of a recumbent. I don't know if it is the seated position of a person, as opposed to the near standing position, or the cycle itself, a combination of the two, or something else entirely.

 

[Time Waster]

The fly fishing / nature observation sounds like my whitewater kayaking days. Paddling down rivers you often see nature as it happens. Dippers are hard to see when walking and often they're flying away. When paddling they don't fly away. In fact I've been playing in a playspot on a river in Yorkshire with a dipper hunting the river bed a metre or so from my playspot.

Other trips I've seen buzzards up close and deer. I've stroked large fish before now with my paddle only to see them dance above the water surface on their tail (sea trout or salmon I'm not sure which). Things you only see because of your quiet mode of transport and low down position.

 

[Nigelnightmare]

I think it's because they don't recognise you as being "Human".
Look at the reaction you get from horses.
The other day I was riding behind a group of upright cyclists going past a field with a horse in,
When I got level with the horse it panicked bolted and jumped the hedge.
It took over an hour to calm him down enough to lead him back to the field and I had to hide my trike behind a parked car as he refused to go anywhere near it.
Luckily he hadn't hurt himself but the owner said he was still very skittish the next day.

 

[Scoosh]

This has come up a few times before - horses and recumbents don't mix very well ...
... but the advice from horse people and other 'bentists is, if approaching a horse, talk to the rider when a long way off, tell them what you are, keep talking so that the horse can hear a human voice and await the rider's guidance on how to pass.

If the horse is in a field, it is obviously much more difficult but I'd suggest doing the same - talking to the horse - but I have also been informed by a lady on a horse that the horses react badly to our flags - it's the unfamiliarity and the flicking movement that causes then to get agitated... If that is the case, I usually stop and keep chatting to the rider who is 'relaxing' the horse.

 

[Time Waster]

If it's the flag you can get c clips to hold them onto the pole.

Do you need flags anyway? Or is that a helmet question for 'bentists?

 

[Tigerbiten]

Do you need flags anyway? Or is that a helmet question for 'bentists?

Not really but it does tick another box if you are involved in an accident.
So it's more of the DRL/high vis type of debate vs a pure helmet saved my life type.

 

[Bad Machine]

.....the horse rider I met early on Sunday morning told me of her appreciation for me pulling over and lowering my flag - and also how much easier I was to spot in yellow/orange compared to "normal" cyclists. She asked if I'd mind staying put for a minute whilst she brought her horse over to "recognise" that I was no threat.

The rider and I chatted for a while, but the horse totally blanked me - how rude was that ?

 

[DaddyPaddey]

I commented to a lady on a horse yesterday that I was surprised at how unbothered her mount was to be told, with a grin, that the horse might not be frightened but that didn't mean to say the rider wasn't. She also mentioned we had passed each other several times in the last few weeks so the horse was now used to the 'bent.