anyone ever encounter wild animals

sungchang

I see bunch of deers, squirrels and birds as I ride near a Wild Life preserve.

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Titus Racer-X Anodized Blue

allanw

Twice I came across black bears here in washington state, on cougar mtn...

whackyscientist

Plenty of occasions. Here are two.

I live in Australia.
One time I was riding a single track in suburbia when I turned a corner and something was across the track. I thought it was a small stick / log etc. I bunnyhopped over the obstrcution and looked down upon doing so to see if I was going to clear it. When looking down I noticed that it was a red bellied black snake! A venomous snake and potentially dangerous snake, not something like a python.

Another occasion I was in an MTB orienteering race with a friend. (all groups are in teams of 2). We were deep into the bush/forest etc, far away from anybody else. We where trying to find the next checkpoint but got lost. My partner got a flat, stopped to fix it and I continued on further to try and find our location and pinpoint it on the map. I came upon a slope going down and just locked up both wheels. I was sliding on the dirt and rocks and then unclipped. I wondered why I decided to just stop. It must have been that I knew that I would just have to come back up. Then I looked at the ground, about 4metres (12 feet) ahead of me was a snake. It was dead still in the middle of the track. Then it slowly lifted itself about 45centimetres (1 1/2 feet) from the ground. I just unclipped my other shoe and slowly walked backwards up the hill. I didnot think I was ever going to make it up the hill and the snake would strike. I had to walk backwards up a loose dirt and rocky slope, with a camelpak on containing about 3litres of water and other equipment, and a rack on my bike with a tent, sleeping bag and other things as well.

MaggieMay

The only wild animals I've encountered are the one's driving cars. Oh, and yes I've been attacked by vicious Magpies.

whackyscientist

Seen another red bellied black snake this afternoon. Not in the same location as previously seen, about 8km away.

The tail of the snake was about 3m /9ft away, with the head about 1.5m /5ft further away. It looked at me, raised its head about 15-20cm /6-8 inches and then went towards the creek.

Startled at first, but was relieved to see that it was a red bellied black, and not a brown snake.

King Fisher

I hope that this was a REALLY long stick!!! I have encountered them, but I always ride alone and have a cellphone. I always am checking my phone to make sure I am still within range and able to call out.

JaKaL

I live in Florida so I usually see lots of deer, hawks, raccoons & once in a while an alligator or two! The closest I've come to a "confrontation" with wildlife was when I actually ran OVER a rattlesnake that was lying across the trail! ( It was only about 3 feet long or so.) This has happened twice in two years! and one other time a couple of months ago I came across a LARGE rattler that was curl up in dead leaves, I didn't see it until the very last second and swerved right past it. Don't ask me how I saw it or how I avoided getting struck though, I guess the Lord had my back that day! These are the times I'm glad I dont have clip-less pedals!

whackyscientist

NO. It wasn't a really long stick, it was a snake.

I was riding home along some concrete bike tracks after riding along some firetrails. I was about to cross the road when a car was coming. I decided to ride along the footpath (sidewalk, pavement - whatever you want to call it), to still keep in motion. The birds were chirping and I didnot pay attention to what they were chirping at as I thought it was me and I was looking straight ahead at the approaching car. Then as I got closer, I seen the snake on the ground and some of the birds were diving at the snake. Then the snake stopped, lifted it head, paused for a few seconds and then went on its way. I get a bit nervous when snakes lift their heads and their necks start to flatten out. I've seen it all before, but I know one day .... (need a little face in a coffin here).

Brain

Not really, have seen several deer... being from the absolute most northern part of Michigan (that would be the UP... you know across the bridge) sorry about the UP thing... you have no Idea how many people have no Idea the UP exists...
But regaurdless seeing deer is pretty common, Ive come within 5 feet of one on my bike more than once

guppie

Last week I enjoyed a long DH ride, came around the corner only to see a herd of deer standing there. They didn't move or anything, so I screamed like a school girl and ran off the course, down a three foot drop into a briar bush. I look up and the deer continue to stare at me, then they just walked away.

Son's of $%@#$%

Aggro Bikes

The area around my house is very wooded with some great trails only a quarter mile away. I came ripping down a grade, around a corner, launched over a roller, and was about 3 feet in the air when movement on the right about 20 feet off the trail caught my eye- man was I freaked out. There was a good-sized coyote eating some sort of rodent or squirrel right there, and the thing didn't even budge. I didn't hit the brakes and kept moving.

jumpingJR

Here in Colorado it seems as though people encounter all sorts of wild stuff but I think my wierdest was a penguin on the Cherry Creek bike trail on my way to work right in the middle of Denver of all places! Who would of thunk it?!?

1id10t

I'm in suburbia so don't get to see any animals except for a few stray dogs and the ones stumbling out of the pub on Friday nights.

jumpingJR

I saw the pengiun in suburbia hell believe it or not! Cherry Creek is like the yuppie hub here in Denver and even the zoo is ten+ miles away. I was literally mind boggled. The animal control guys that I called were almonst in tears laughing at me when they got there and the angry little bird was trying to peck a hole in my knee!