Hit a Rabbit this morning

Soni

Whilst out riding this morning i hit a rabbit and ran it over....

Been wondering what the consequences would be, as many rabbits run out in front of me in the mornings along the lanes i cycle through, often wondered whether it would take me off the bike if i ever hit one.

This morning, a rabbit ran from the right hand side of the road to the left, sat there, and waited for me to ride past it and decided to run back from left to right!!

I hit it, ran it straight over, didn't take the steering out at all, was very surprised, however when i looked back at it, it was lying in the road on its back, with its feet up in the air, and then shot up, and wobbled back towards the bushes, but it looked very 'bent' up......

Poor Rabbit, i felt terrible, but there was nothing i could have done to avoid it...

ride_whenever

I'm a bad man, but bunny hop?

flybike

Could you not have gone back and finished it off? I mean with the cleat of your shoe hard in the back of it's head/neck rather than trying to take it out with your bike!
I tend to get out the car/off the bike to wring necks of injured pheasents/birds if necessary (sometimes it's free dinner too).

TommyEss

flybike wrote:

(sometimes it's free dinner too).

Thought that was only if you didn't hit it...

Or is that an urban (rural) myth?!

flybike

TommyEss wrote:

flybike wrote:

(sometimes it's free dinner too).

Thought that was only if you didn't hit it...

Or is that an urban (rural) myth?!

I think it's old law relating to poaching but I really don't think anyone is going to worry about it too much!
I've hit deer before and seems a waste not to eat it (that was with a landrover rather than a bike!)
I have no idea if hitting a rabbit on your bike though would normally cause you or your bike any damage though.

timb64

TommyEss wrote:

I have no idea if hitting a rabbit on your bike though would normally cause you or your bike any damage though.

My wife's got a rabbit and three guinea pigs. I'll ride around my garden on my old bike this evening and let you know :twisted:

TommyEss

I think it depends what type of rabbit it is tbh...

mask of sanity

TommyEss wrote:

flybike wrote:

(sometimes it's free dinner too).

Thought that was only if you didn't hit it...

Or is that an urban (rural) myth?!

Definitely not a myth. Applies to deer but not sure about rabbits.

ride_whenever

anyone got that photo of the TdF cyclist hitting the dog?

Soni

I should have realised i would have left myself wide open 'Bunny Hops' and all :twisted:

I was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea this morning, i thought i had killed it at first, but then see it get up and wobble off all bent up, and was going to go back and pick it up and take it home (not to eat) but see if i could get it to a vet or something, as i wouldn't be able to kill it myself........(although nearly did a good job of it unintentionally, before others add ) but realised i wouldn't have been able to carry it back unless i left the bike in a field, and even then the rabbit is going to try everything it can to get away from me whilst i'm chasing after it in my cleated shoes....scratching and biting and everything else...

The father in law told me i could have given it a swift chop over the back of its neck with my bare hand and that would have done the job, all the tricks of the trade that i don't know about!

Woodenleg

Never hit a rabbit, but did for a pigeon a while back. there it was standing on the kerb like a good pedestrian, with me thinking "it's going to step out in front of me" At the last minute it did, and I winged it with the front wheel, and ran over it's neck with the rear. The result was a well and truly ex-pigeon. Didn't feel a thing on the bike, but did leave me thinking never to swerve to avoid something of this size - more chance of that bringing you off the bike.

TommyEss

Well this story is too daft to have made up...

Whilst driving back from Nottingham with my mum one night, we passed through the village of Bunny...

And then the inevitable happened...

I just remember seeing this little ball of fluff hopping towards the white line, then carrying on, and then the soft "thud-thud", and then the image of it bouncing off the road in my rear view mirror.

My mum didn't talk to me until we got to Sileby...

taz3611

I did decapitate a squirrel once, and no, that's not a euphemism for anything. It dashed out of a hedgerow straight into my front wheel. There was a small 'Ting' sound as a spoke hit it at around 20mph and that was it. I stopped to check for damage and found a small amount of blood on the spoke and rim and a headless squirrel carcass. Couldn't find the head though. Maybe a ghost of the Headless Squirrel now wanders that particular patch of woodland looking for his lost noggin.

TommyEss

Grizzly...

taz3611 wrote:

Maybe a ghost of the Headless Squirrel now wanders that particular patch of woodland looking for his lost noggin.

This could almost be a Mighty Boosh character...!

gazza_d1

I once twatted a pigeon which flew straight out of a hedgerow, under my front wheel, and impaled itself on my chainwheel. Not nice.

Other dead animal related anecdote I have is that many moons ago, myself and a "mate" were riding back on the last few miles of a 130 miler up to Alston. Had a tailwind, and we were banging at about 22mph, with me in his slipstream, when all of a sudden he just suddenly slammed the brakes on in the middle of an empty road.

I ploughed straight into him, knocking him into the verge, and ending up in a heap on the white line wondering about the amount of damage, when I saw him get up. He walked straight past me, picked up this mangy looking pheasant carcass of the white line, muttered that it wasn't worth taking home and slung it straight over the hedgeback - Bastard.

Had the last laugh though. Apart from a couple of minor grazes my and my bike were undamaged, but his new back wheel was complete toast.

Anonymous

I had to swerve several times the other day before I finally managed to run over a chicken.

White Line

Lucky you didn't fall off. Rabbit aren't that big I suppose. :?

I have quite a lot of foxes around my area. The bloody things pop out from nowhere. I'm scared to not have my hands on the brakes when I'm coming home from work (usually between 2200 and 0100 hrs). Wonder what'd happen if I hit one of those ... :shock: New front wheel perhaps! But then I'd have mismatching wheels ... two new wheels?

markos1963

Amatuers! Red deer,fallow,muntjack,fox's,swans, pheasant,heron,rabbits,cats, a dog, partridge, pidgeons and loads of birds I don't know the name of(no crows yet though) I've hit them all in my train and I've only been driving for 2 years! Funnily enough, not hit anything yet on my bike( fingers crossed)

robdaykin

This is one for the animals.

Couple of years back coming up to a corner, by a farm gate, I was slightly dazzled by the spotlight over the farm door, and only saw a shadow dart our of the hedge, straight under my front wheel. Flying through the air, I landed on the point of the saddle, and stopped dead. Looking round I saw a badger stand up, shrug and walk off into the woods. My tally, one bruised groin, and two bent wheels. Both went right over the little so and so. Solid critters badgers.
I repaired 2 punctures, cycled home, slowly, and next day bought 2 new rims, and a handful of spokes.

A couple of weeks later, on my off road bike, about 10 miles away, I was coming down Cloughton Bank in the middle of the night, and a badger tried to do for that bike, but I saw him coming, and he missed.

I must admit, for a few weeks I thought it might be personal... Or maybe they were hired by the partridges.

Biscuiteer

Nearly hit a buzzard a fortnight ago - that would have had me off if I'd done more than clip its wing feathers! I was going round a bend on a local lane, about 20mph, and spooked a buzzard that was chewing on a bit of roadkill in the verge. It flapped straight out into my path and then as soon as it was just clear of me turned around to collect the manky dead thing it had been eating. I clipped it's wing feathers with my front wheel as it returned to the verge.

Soni

Robdaykin, I'll have to watch out for those badgers!

I live amongst loads of fields and lanes, i see loads of dead badgers along the side of the lanes, that have been hit by cars, hopefully i'll never hit one myself on my bike!

jswba

This one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmDIJ68jcHk

or this one:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3abc4d ... m-mkubota1

Edit: sorry, @ ride_whenever

Tempestas

I hit a squirrel riding Perf’s one year, it went right though my 16 spoke Shamal’s and just got mashed to bits, the bunch was really motoring as we were chasing a dangerous break. I was covered in squirrel goo and asked the rider next to me if I could borrow his water, he had a clear bottle with what looked like water in, I sprayed my legs to try and get it off but turns out he had some clear energy drink....This resulted in me lacquering squirrel guts to my legs, I rolled in about 15th-20th and remember the local press guy who is famous around our way commenting on how well I had done to finish my injuries....I was a right mess and had to ride about 10 miles covered in this stuff....makes me shudder now, RIP Mr Squirrel :roll:

flybike

My boyfriends lights failed on a rural commute (through the new forest). He cycled straight into a black cow. Initially he wondered what the wall of fur was that he had hit then realised what had happened...

Cow fine, cyclist shaken but at least he had a soft impact and wasn't going too fast without lights!
It could have been more like this old classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYhT6FHE ... L&index=46

hoolio

I almost hit an old woman this morning. Does that count?
Cycling towards pelican crossing at 25mph. It's on green. Little old lady looks at me, looks back at the red man on the crossing lights. The lights still green, I'm still doing 25mph. She looks at me again.... and starts to walk out right in front of me.

"There's no way this little old lady is just gonna walk out in fr.... JESUS"

Soni

Tempestas wrote:

I hit a squirrel riding Perf’s one year, it went right though my 16 spoke Shamal’s and just got mashed to bits, the bunch was really motoring as we were chasing a dangerous break. I was covered in squirrel goo and asked the rider next to me if I could borrow his water, he had a clear bottle with what looked like water in, I sprayed my legs to try and get it off but turns out he had some clear energy drink....This resulted in me lacquering squirrel guts to my legs, I rolled in about 15th-20th and remember the local press guy who is famous around our way commenting on how well I had done to finish my injuries....I was a right mess and had to ride about 10 miles covered in this stuff....makes me shudder now, RIP Mr Squirrel :roll:

Yuk, how horid :evil: