Ran over a squirrel...

ed_j

Went for a quick ride today, was in my own little world coming down a downhill corner when I spotted a squirrel tucked into the side of the road. I slowed to 15 or so mph as I was approaching and sure enough he started to amble back up towards the hedge a foot from the verge. So I released the brakes and started to speed up, unfortunately it was at this point Mr. Squirrel realised he'd forgotten his nuts on the other side of the road so naturally, turned and ran straight back.. under my bike. I won't describe the noise, but that and the sudden bump let me know I'd definitely run the b*gger over. I mean seriously, who else has run a squirrel over on a road bike?! It's just taking the Michael. Obviously I stopped... to check for damage to my bike and the little blighter was no where to be seen.

I'm sure someone can trump that, so what's the weirdest thing you've ever 'run over' on a bike?

thistle_

I had something similar happen to me - it ran through my my bike, there was a bump but when I stopped it was nowhere to be seen, not even splattered on my bike.

Maybe you caught its tail and it kept running?

sungod

not done it myself, but one less grey squirrel is no loss to the world, just rats with furry tails

cyclists have been seriously injured by squirrels attempting to leap through the front wheel, there was a guy in the usa who was airlifted away in a cradle after a squirrel-caused faceplant

amy: ...because it's usually against my principles to shoot dumb animals.

edmund: except squirrels?

amy: yes! bastards! i hate them with their long tails and their stupid twitchy noses. (shoots two squirrels, "eep", "eep")

ed_j

sungod wrote:

not done it myself, but one less grey squirrel is no loss to the world, just rats with furry tails

cyclists have been seriously injured by squirrels attempting to leap through the front wheel, there was a guy in the usa who was airlifted away in a cradle after a squirrel-caused faceplant

amy: ...because it's usually against my principles to shoot dumb animals.

edmund: except squirrels?

amy: yes! bastards! i hate them with their long tails and their stupid twitchy noses. (shoots two squirrels, "eep", "eep")

Cripes thank goodness I ran it over! Squirrel in the spokes would've been nasty for both of us.

As for shooting I happen to shoot the little blighters as often as time allows.

colsoop

No squirrel (that would have been an interesting outcome considering the speed i was doing)
I did have a little bird fly through my front wheel .
I Went back up the road to check if said bird was alright. Unfortunately the poor little fella was twitching away having lost one of its wings

seanoconn

You're entitled to eat anything you run over. Make sure they're dead first. Strapped this bloke to my bonnet to take home once and he woke up and starting fffing and blinding. He saw the funny side in the end though.

Shredded a pigeon in my bike wheel once.

andyeb

Was once riding with a friend and a squirrel ran into the side of my mates wheel. Poor thing went into convulsions :?

jezzpalmer

Happened a week or so ago to the manager of Scunthorpe. Scunthorpe, who are they?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19486989

Monty Dog

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/6/7603931 ... z.jpg?zz=1

Could be painful...

ed_j

Monty Dog wrote:

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/6/76039319_f5e81e4f93_z.jpg?zz=1

Could be painful...

Woah. From now on I will have a 5mph limit on approaching squirrels...

neeb

This raises all sorts of interesting questions. Are bladed spokes safer because they are more likely to chop a small furry animal in half and thus stop it getting jammed in the forks? Are front wheel builds with small numbers of spokes more dangerous because larger animals can get between them? Could a badger fit through a 16 spoke radially laced front wheel?

Disk wheels front and rear, always. Anyone who doesn't do this is an obviously idiot, especially since they are probably not wearing a helmet either.

Headhuunter

Sounds like this it's not uncommon, it happened a couple of months ago to a guy on a club ride that I was on... Stupid animals

Mikey23

Sounds like you were negligent in a health and safety sense. Did you have your black and yellow tape with you and and anti squirrel warning notice? Shocking

PlymouthSam

seanoconn wrote:

You're entitled to eat anything you run over. Make sure they're dead first. Strapped this bloke to my bonnet to take home once and he woke up and starting fffing and blinding. He saw the funny side in the end though.

Shredded a pigeon in my bike wheel once.

Wrong, the person behind you is entitled to.

superfourben

PlymouthSam wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

You're entitled to eat anything you run over. Make sure they're dead first. Strapped this bloke to my bonnet to take home once and he woke up and starting fffing and blinding. He saw the funny side in the end though.

Shredded a pigeon in my bike wheel once.

Wrong, the person behind you is entitled to.

Agreed, if you run over something and pick it up it is considered to be poaching, however the person behind has found it dead and it is fair game.

I have never hit anything on the bike myself but a friend got a pheasant in the chest on his motorbike, it took him hours to get the blood out of his leathers!

diy

Ran over plenty of dogs on the mtb. Owners just seem to let them run wild and they typically chase after you and then run in front of you.

DavidJB

I was 5cm from hitting an owl during a dawn ride last week!

BowtomePhil

I ran over a pedestrian, I swerved left and right and finally got him.

nickellis

andyeb wrote:

Poor thing went into convulsions :?

Your mate? Or the squirrel?

I had a gurt big rat run into me on Tuesday night down by the Thames. I must have run between the front and rear wheels because I didn't feel the bump of doom.

If I'd hit it it would have been faceplate time. It was massive, and I shat myself. Why is it always suicidal super furry animals that try to kill or maim cyclist. As if dodgy drivers arent enough of a hazard.

willow71uk

A bloke in my club after being off the road for 2 months due to a bad crash his first day back on the road with a brand new bike was riding down a very steep hill in the area at high speed had a pheasant fly into his front wheel. He is still in hospital now 2 weeks after the accident.

arnie1000

The exact same thing happened to me a month back - much to my work colleagues amusement. Commuting into work, on a slight decline on a quiet country lane doing about 22mph and cycling about a metre or so from the grass verge.

All of a sudden out of the grass verge comes flying this stupid squirrel and lands right in front of my front wheel, right at the wrong time (for him anyway). It all happened so quick I didn't even have time to serve, just race straight over the poor buggers face!

That was his final resting place......

Last year, on the same commute, we had a herd of deer come running out about 10meters in front of us.... a few seconds quicker and that could have been nasty!

GavH

I've had a small bird fly out of a hedgerow and stright through my frame, only barely brushing against my left leg as it did so.

Bebs

Brilliant - careful out there..

Guanajuato

Rabbits are the main problem I have on my rides. Buggers seem to be everywhere, particularly in the darker, shadier bits.
Out in Africa, its a whole different ball game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khx50qkk_ew

Mikey23

Blooming heck that was scary....

iplod

Exactly the same thing happened to me last year near lake Vyrnwy. R.I.P Mr Squirrel

Mikey23

You heartless lot... I can just imagine the traumatic scenes in the drey when mummy squirrel has to explain to all the little baby squirrels that daddy isn't coming home any more ...

mustgettaller

Happened to me last year. Squirrel dashed out and I got it with both wheels. No time to avoid it and questionable whether it would have been safe to do so anyway.

I stopped and went back, and the poor little bugger was writhing on the road with a broken back. What to do? Well, put it out of its misery of course. As I hunted for a big enough stick to do the deed, I could hear a family with very small people approaching round the corner.

This increased the urgency of the situation, as I could just see the scene. "Mummy, why's that man clubbing that squirrel to death?". Just got the deed done and the body disposed of into the hedgerow before the family arrived!

I've also hit a badger at night on the MTB. I went A over T and landed in a heap, while the badger shrugged, scratched his ear as if to say "Hmm, what was that?" and ambled off. They're very solid!

Mikey23

Finely honed athlete on superfast speed machine versus small country creature ... Wins every time!

cock_sportif

I 'burst' a pigeon on the Portobello Road once. I want a squirrel next. Then a swan.

Mikey23

Then a moose ...