Suicidal Squirrel

[captain nemo1701]

Shooting down the Railway path this morning, a squirrel shot across the path and unfortunately went under my front wheel. I checked to see if there was a corpse, but nothing!. May have made it into the verge but there’s no way it could survive a 14st bloke on an MTB hitting it. A male cyclist passed me and said it was a ‘suicidal squirrel’.

Anyone else hit wildlife by random chance?. I did run over a rat once and also had a near-miss with a pigeon.

 

[Welsh wheels]

I nearly hit a Pheasant once but just managed to avoid it. Ended up in the hedge though.

 

[ianrauk]

Was cycling down in deepest darkest Kent last weekend and the exact same happened.

Squirrel came shooting out of the bushes to our left, through the wheel's of my cycling partner.
Gawd knows how it got through without being squished.

 

[Drago]

Murderer!!!

 

[Threevok]

My daily commute is plagued with such incidents...

as you mentioned - suicidal squirrels that see you and (instead of just running off to the side) zig zag in front of you, for a 100 yards

Rabbits that see you, run into the undergrowth on one side, only to change their mind (when you get close enough) and run across your path to the other side

The obligatory "One Knob and his Dog" sheep trails - where you're the sheep

The occasional startled cat, so engrossed on the pray it's stalking, that it pays no attention to you - until it's too late (despite your best efforts to alert it).

Low flying birds including (sometimes) Herons and Buzzards - quite startling when you are in a "corridor of trees" and these just appear in your path

And if I working late and commuting home at night....

Bats - they follow the bike for miles and swoop down over my shoulder collecting the insects that my lights attract - quite useful though

The odd fox or two

Low flying Owls

Frogs/Toads - sometimes so many that you can't avoid them - hate having to clean that off the bike

All this, plus the constant "dodge the dog doo" manoeuvres I have to make, i'm surprised I have a headset and brakes left

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I rode over a long snake once, while riding along a shared path on my way home from work. Not feeling suicidal myself, I didn't stop to see what the end result was.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Was cycling down in deepest darkest Kent last weekend and the exact same happened.

Squirrel came shooting out of the bushes to our left, through the wheel's of my cycling partner.
Gawd knows how it got through without being squished.

You need to tell your mate to ride faster

 

[Threevok]

I rode over a long snake once

That made me chuckle

When you said "long" I found myself asking was it stretched from one side of the path to the other, or did it just take a long time for you to cease running over it ?

 

[User169]

Bats - they follow the bike for miles and swoop down over my shoulder collecting the insects that my lights attract - quite useful though

That sounds pretty cool.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

That made me chuckle

When you said "long" I found myself asking was it stretched from one side of the path to the other, or did it just take a long time for you to cease running over it ?

The former, actually, and I felt the double bump as both wheels hit it. I hope it survived it OK, but there was no way I was staying around to check on it.

 

[jefmcg]

No personal experience killing wild (or domesticated) animals*, but I remember being told tales by an old colleague.

1. He was leading a peloton when a bird flew into his front wheel. Entire rest of peloton covered with feathers and blood
2. He cycled over a snake that somehow got tangled in his front wheel. Not wanting to deal with an angry snake, he kept going until it's head came off.

*I have had several near misses with pheasants, and late one night something hit me in the chest, which I assume was a bat. Oh, and there were the frogs all over a wet road that I tried to avoid, but killed at least one.

 

[MichaelW2]

I nearly hit a Pheasant once but just managed to avoid it. Ended up in the hedge though.

I nearly avoided a pheasant once but just managed to bag it.

 

[captain nemo1701]

Murderer!!!

My work colleagues liked it to pest control

 

[captain nemo1701]

My daily commute is plagued with such incidents...

as you mentioned - suicidal squirrels that see you and (instead of just running off to the side) zig zag in front of you, for a 100 yards

Rabbits that see you, run into the undergrowth on one side, only to change their mind (when you get close enough) and run across your path to the other side

The obligatory "One Knob and his Dog" sheep trails - where you're the sheep

The occasional startled cat, so engrossed on the pray it's stalking, that it pays no attention to you - until it's too late (despite your best efforts to alert it).

Low flying birds including (sometimes) Herons and Buzzards - quite startling when you are in a "corridor of trees" and these just appear in your path

And if I working late and commuting home at night....

Bats - they follow the bike for miles and swoop down over my shoulder collecting the insects that my lights attract - quite useful though

The odd fox or two

Low flying Owls

Frogs/Toads - sometimes so many that you can't avoid them - hate having to clean that off the bike

All this, plus the constant "dodge the dog doo" manoeuvres I have to make, i'm surprised I have a headset and brakes left

Crikey, your commute must be a hellish blood bath!

 

[RoubaixCube]

I almost hit a wild pedestrian once. They stepped into my path out of nowhere,