Running over badgers and other animals

[Riverman]

Sad to say that yesterday I think I accidently ran over a badger, with my bike..... The event occured whilst riding down this path on my bike. This has to have been one of the weirdest experiences of my life. The path gets quite dark and I was relying on a headtorch to see through it. I was going at a reasonable speed and saw a glint, a small reflection ahead to my right. For a moment I thought it was a fellow cyclist who stopped but to my amazement a badger darted off into the distance, however one of his pals decided to run almost straight into my bike, running along side me and then underneath my pedals! It helped that I had my head torch on because I could see him very clearly below me. I think I must have run over it as it started grunting, I tried not to break suddenly as I felt he would go under my front wheel. It all happened so quickly and to be honest it gave me a fright as he/she was huge.

I've always said I wanted to see a badger one day lol.

So anyone else here had any close encounters with wildlife?

 

[Globalti]

Sad to say that yesterday I think I accidently ran over a badger, with my bike..... The event occured whilst riding down this path on my bike. This has to have been one of the weirdest experiences of my life. The path gets quite dark and I was relying on a headtorch to see through it. I was going at a reasonable speed and saw a glint, a small reflection ahead to my right. For a moment I thought it was a fellow cyclist who stopped but to my amazement a badger darted off into the distance, however one of his pals decided to run almost straight into my bike, running along side me and then underneath my pedals! It helped that I had my head torch on because I could see him very clearly below me. I think I must have run over it as it started grunting, I tried not to break suddenly as I felt he would go under my front wheel. It all happened so quickly and to be honest it gave me a fright as he/she was huge.

I've always said I wanted to see a badger one day lol.

So anyone else here had any close encounters with wildlife?

Yes, my brother and I were riding up a glen in Scotland, heading home from the pub very late one mid summer evening with no lights when suddenly two deer crashed out of the undergrowth beside us and shot off up the road. Both of us nearly shat our cycling shorts.

 

[Riverman]

I think the worst thing about this was the feeling that had I stopped and enraged the badger, I'd have had an injured badger underneath my legs and be slightly immobile. I've read that on 'rare occasions' they can be quite vicious. Not that they're vicious animals but I imagine if they sense a threat and are injured they ain't gonna be happy.

 

[ChrisBD]

Ran over a badger on a bike?

These guys are exceptionally tough cookies; being a country bumpkin I have had a bew incidents with black and white pigs.

1; Ran over a badger that was crossing the road at night, in an old LR Discovery doing 50odd mph, brike tracking arm.......
2; Similar but much slower driving out of the estate drive on a quad bike; smashed wheel and tyre, plastic fairings briken......
3; wife hit one head on in our old Volvo T5; smashed the bumper, grill and needed a replacement rad.....got rid of the car quite soon after that.

Very luck you did not come off worse; as much as I'm sure you had no intention of causing harm, with a brut of an animal as tough as that I'm pretty sure it would have come off quite unscathed.

Badgers, squirrels (tree rats) fallow, roe and munjack deer and a plethora of game birds all seen at good close range on a regular basis, on the farm and in the garden.

 

[ChrisBD]

I think the worst thing about this was the feeling that had I stopped and enraged the badger, I'd have had an injured badger underneath my legs and be slightly immobile. I've read that on 'rare occasions' they can be quite vicious. Not that they're vicious animals but I imagine if they sense a threat and are injured they ain't gonna be happy.

They are exceptionally dangerous; lovely to look at but very very tough, with imense power and believe it or nor speed.

I would never suggest anyone get out to "check its ok" if they ran one over as they might with another animal.

 

[Globalti]

Many years ago my elderly parents, out walking in Northumberland, came across a sow trapped by a wire noose around her abdomen in a gap in a fence. She had wriggled far enough through the trap to get it behind her fore legs then it had tightened so much that it had cut into her flesh. She was lying bleeding, unable to move, with her muzzle in a pool of water. They tried to break the wire but it was too flexible so they carefully placed a flat stone under her nose to keep it out of the water and went off to call the RSPCA. Bloke went up the next day and reported that he'd found the sow dead. Mum & Dad were extremely distressed by the event and talked about it for a long time afterwards. From then on they always carried wire cutters in the rucsac.

 

[Riverman]

They are exceptionally dangerous; lovely to look at but very very tough, with imense power and believe it or nor speed.

I would never suggest anyone get out to "check its ok" if they ran one over as they might with another animal.

Interesting. To be honest it did shake me up a bit but was made worse because I nearly fell off my bike about 2 seconds after and had to stop. The thought did cross my mind about checking if the badger was okay but after what you've said I'm glad I didn't.

I'll never forget that grunting though lol.

Ah I'm glad he didn't make this sound.

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrG_HdH2oY[/media]


And ouch

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]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVzfcpu9RM0&feature=related[/media]

 

[asterix]

Had a blackbird fly into my front wheel spokes. Died instantly, fortunately I was going slow.

On a ride the guy in front ran over a cat and fell quite badly. The cat ran off and we couldn't find it.

About 10pm saw a load of reflective lights kind of bobbing across the road so slowed right down to see a large herd of deer crossing the road. Quite a magical sight ..

Have done for one or two rabbits in the car but nothing else.

 

[Globalti]

Had a blackbird fly into my front wheel spokes. Died instantly, fortunately I was going slow.

On a ride the guy in front ran over a cat and fell quite badly. The cat ran off and we couldn't find it.

About 10pm saw a load of reflective lights kind of bobbing across the road so slowed right down to see a large herd of deer crossing the road. Quite a magical sight ..

All this in one ride? Get the feeling Nature is trying to get you back for something?

 

[Beardie]

I'm afraid I hit a barn owl a few days ago, doing 50mph in the works lorry. Nothing I could do, it glided out from the roadside hedge and made quite an impressive clatter on the front of the wagon. I've had roadkill incidents before, (one week I hit something 4 days out of 5) but it has always been pigeons and rabbits, so I don't feel so bad about them.

 

[Fnaar]

Some time ago, someone on here posted a thread titled "I punched a pheasant"... can't remember who...sorry... I always think of that when a pheasant flies across my path (frequently) while out and about on me bike

 

[Riverman]

These two might put you off flying, quite amazing all it takes is a bird to take down a multi million pound jet fighter.

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc-XiO4ojzk&p[/media]


[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji4nZ5k82uk&feature=related[/media]

 

[rich p]

I ran over a sleeping policeman - that'll teach the lazy b*stard.

 

[asterix]

All this in one ride? Get the feeling Nature is trying to get you back for something?

Touche. But I'll be back

 

[Becs]

Nearly cycled straight into the sharp end of a British Longhorn on one of the Cambridge commons today! The somewhat bold bovine was too busy scratching itself on the cycle path gate to notice me+bike. Took ages to shoo it off!