Clash with a squirrel

t4tomo

So I was riding at a decent lick on country lane through some woodland yesterday evening and a squirrel shot out from side of the road and ran into side of my front wheel. I'm think crap this is going to take me out, but no.. he (or she) must have got a paw or somethuing caught in a spoke as it shot upto about 10 o'clock on the wheel, then brushed up my leg for a bit and then cartwheel comedy style back into the bushes. It looked somewhat shocked last time a saw it flying tail u,p paws down towards the undergrowth.

JimboPlob

Squirrels seem to go a bit mad at this time of year. They will often run out in front of you, panic dart left/right and then inevitably into your front wheel.

I was out on my TT bike doing near 50kph down a slight incline when this happened to me. Held on hard to the bars and felt two big bumps... I didn't look back but reckon it was one dead squirrel. (It was a busy 2 lane road so I there was no way I was going to swerve)

My advice is that if you see a squirrel, just hold your line. Hitting it is very unlikely to take you down, but swerving to try and dodge its very unpredictable moves is likely to make you dangerously swerve across the road.

t4tomo

I didn't have time to even think about swerving, I was doing about 20mph (I work in old money) and was prob 8 inches out from the verge/ bush it ran out of.

Kieran_Burns

I thought the rule was:

Avoid red.
Aim for grey.

Did I get that wrong?

kelsen

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I thought the rule was:

Avoid red.
Aim for pink.

Did I get that wrong?

FTFY

veronese68

Grey soon becomes red if it goes through your spokes.

Gallywomack

Thankfully more squirrels are taking precautions and wearing hi-viz these days:



(Sighted near my house a month or so back)

t4tomo

I was definately a Grey (vermin) one.

MrSweary

Ran over a baby squirrel a few years back along the Thames path down on the Isle of Dogs. Both wheels on my heavy old Triban 7. Thought, that is one dead baby squirrel. Cycling past the other way the next day the bloody thing did it again! This time it stopped short of going under my wheels. I thought, at least you are learning little furry friend.

anonymousblackfg

I've had one run from the side and end up half way through my front wheel. He got fully rotated up and smacked through the forks before being spat out. I span around thinking i'd need put him out of his missery to find some bloke saying 'leave it mate, he's gone' like some doomed scene fron a Vietnam film.

kelsen

There's a pic that keeps floating around over in LFGSS where a squirrel ended up folded through somebody's forks, snapping them in the process.

I'm not going to link to it for the sake of forummer's with a nervous disposition (no doubt somebody will though!)

Headhuunter

kelsen wrote:

There's a pic that keeps floating around over in LFGSS where a squirrel ended up folded through somebody's forks, snapping them in the process.

I'm not going to link to it for the sake of forummer's with a nervous disposition (no doubt somebody will though!)

Yes, I was thinking about that photo... 2 of my greatest fears when cycling are getting a bee or wasp stuck in my helmet or a squirrel or other such rodent wedged in my wheel, snapping my forks...

SteppenHerring

A few of us going down Little Switzerland the other day so moving at a fair pace. Mad squirrel shoots out, heads for one guys front wheel, think the better of it, heads for mine, reverses and heads back towards the first guy's wheel. Narrowly missed. Daft creatures.

Agent57

Headhuunter wrote:

2 of my greatest fears when cycling are getting a bee or wasp stuck in my helmet

How about a bee flying into your mouth? I had that.

wandsworth

MrSweary wrote:

Ran over a baby squirrel a few years back along the Thames path down on the Isle of Dogs. Both wheels on my heavy old Triban 7. Thought, that is one dead baby squirrel. Cycling past the other way the next day the bloody thing did it again! This time it stopped short of going under my wheels. I thought, at least you are learning little furry friend.

You sure it was the same one?

One ran across in front of me the other week when I was at maximum velocity down Sawyers Hill in RP. No cars, no headwind ... but just a fecking squirrel. Thankfully he got across before I hit him.

They are pretty tough little bastards though. The other day one ran across our road, right under a car. I heard a bang and thought he was a goner, but then I saw him run out the other side and into the bushes.

vermin

t4tomo wrote:

I was definitely a Grey (vermin) one.

Not me

veronese68

wandsworth wrote:

One ran across in front of me the other week when I was at maximum velocity down Sawyers Hill in RP. No cars, no headwind ... but just a ******* squirrel. Thankfully he got across before I hit him.

One of the doctor's at my GP's surgery was telling me she hit a rabbit going down Broomfield at speed. Straight over the handlebars onto one of those little wooden stumps. Broke 4 ribs in spectacular fashion. She said she's a lot slower down there nowadays.

oarsman

Aren't you supposed to bunny hop those?

IGMC

daddy0

About a month ago I was riding around the country lanes at night and a badger decides to charge me. I was doing about 20mph and the bugger headbutted my front wheel and almost simultaneously got a Shimano shoe in the face. A friend who knows about such things said that the wildlife go crazy when the shrooms are ripe!

Kieran_Burns

Daddy0 wrote:

About a month ago I was riding around the country lanes at night and a badger decides to charge me. I was doing about 20mph and the bugger headbutted my front wheel and almost simultaneously got a Shimano shoe in the face. A friend who knows about such things said that the wildlife go crazy when the shrooms are ripe!

If. Anyone. Mentions. That. Song...

hegyestomi

I think squirrels are jealous of their in-house hamster relatives and looking for a wheel...
Once I hit a dachshund, front wheel over, dog spinning like a sausage between the two wheels, then both of us going to our own way (slightly shocked but still upright)

ETreeson

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Daddy0 wrote:

About a month ago I was riding around the country lanes at night and a badger decides to charge me. I was doing about 20mph and the bugger headbutted my front wheel and almost simultaneously got a Shimano shoe in the face. A friend who knows about such things said that the wildlife go crazy when the shrooms are ripe!

If. Anyone. Mentions. That. Song...

Huh?

woodyonthebeach

ETreeson wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Daddy0 wrote:

About a month ago I was riding around the country lanes at night and a badger decides to charge me. I was doing about 20mph and the bugger headbutted my front wheel and almost simultaneously got a Shimano shoe in the face. A friend who knows about such things said that the wildlife go crazy when the shrooms are ripe!

If. Anyone. Mentions. That. Song...

Huh?

Thats not a song. its a type of torture that use sound instead of physical punishment.

But squirrels and rabbits this time of year seem to go batshit crazy and start self euthanising.

nicklouse

MrSweary

woodyonthebeach wrote:

ETreeson wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Daddy0 wrote:

About a month ago I was riding around the country lanes at night and a badger decides to charge me. I was doing about 20mph and the bugger headbutted my front wheel and almost simultaneously got a Shimano shoe in the face. A friend who knows about such things said that the wildlife go crazy when the shrooms are ripe!

If. Anyone. Mentions. That. Song...

Huh?

Thats not a song. its a type of torture that use sound instead of physical punishment.

But squirrels and rabbits this time of year seem to go batshit crazy and start self euthanising.

Aren't the shrooms a bit later in the year? Always used to be that way up in Dundee but I guess that could be the colder weather. Or so I'm told.

Headhuunter

nicklouse wrote:

OMG, that's worse than the other photo! It's still alive - is it your bike? You just stood around taking photos of the poor thing with it's leg half ripped off?

tgotb

If it was still alive, how would you go about putting it out of its misery (given that squirrels presumably have sharp teeth)? Jump back on the bike and ride a bit further? :shock:

Headhuunter

TGOTB wrote:

If it was still alive, how would you go about putting it out of its misery (given that squirrels presumably have sharp teeth)? Jump back on the bike and ride a bit further? :shock:

Definitely still alive, you can tell by the angle of the head, the eyes and it's front paw... You'd have to get it disentangled from the wheel before riding on anyway, think I'd prioritise getting it out and killing it over taking a photo!

kelsen

TGOTB wrote:

If it was still alive, how would you go about putting it out of its misery (given that squirrels presumably have sharp teeth)? Jump back on the bike and ride a bit further? :shock:

Just leave it there and ride around with it to freak people out

condorman

I found that a squirrel could get through my front wheel but a cat could not. The cat wiped me out and if I'd found that cat ... Quite a surreal conversation telephoning work to say I'd be late in as I got taken out by a cat.

The Ors

Agent57 wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

2 of my greatest fears when cycling are getting a bee or wasp stuck in my helmet

How about a bee flying into your mouth? I had that.

Me too. It was when I was a kid; I was chewing gum with my mouth open. I didn't manage to stop chewing in time, so chewed up the bee/wasp. I can still see the bits of it mashed into the chewing gum as I quickly spat it out! I still wonder whether I would have ended up with a stung throat if I hadn't chewed it to death first.