Ran over a rabbit! What are the odds of that!?

CXrider

Was riding along a country lane coming up to the Lotus garage on my usual Newlands Corner hill route..

I was only doing about 12 - 14 MPH as I was looking to keep it steady before some serious hill work when out of the corner of my eye I say a grey flash. I then heard and felt a bump as my front tyre was jolted due to an object. I knew that it must have been related to the grey flash so i looked behind me fearing the worst and spotted a rabbit scrabbling off into the bushes.

I thought I would have killed it outright as I must have gone over either his neck, head or torso due to the bump.
It did seem a bit lower as it scrambled away but I was glad it was not just laying there putting me in that awful position of whether to finish it off or not.

it still made me think though.. poor rabbit, I hope it's not now laying in agony dying slowly and also how lucky I was that I was not kicked off the bike.

I have seen a fair few rabbits at the side of a road but what are the actual chances of one running right out at speed from one bush straight under my wheel?

iron-clover

That is quite unlucky, but then again just coming out of spring there will be the young ones around that are destined to be weeded out sooner or later.
I was also around that are this evening, and did see a fair few scurries off on the verge.

veronese68

I once saw a GP and whilst discussing broken ribs she said that she had hit a rabbit as she was going down Broomfield Hill in Richmond Park at a reasonable speed. The rabbit went into the spokes and threw her over the handlebars, she landed on one of those little wooden stumps at the side of the road breaking 4 ribs, and I think she said she punctured a lung or something as well. Rabbit was rather worse off.
She still cycles but is a lot slower going down hills.
Ouch.

chris_bass

A bird flew into my head last week, one added bonus of wearing a helmet I suppose!

wavefront

Think you were lucky!! Is that the road from Ripley? I often take the parallel one, Hungry Hill to Newlands/Staples but it's the pheasants along there that have nearly taken me out on a few occasions! Used to be the potholes you'd watch out for, now it's wildlife! Always wondered who would come off worse - rider or animal!

mm1

Rode over a squirrel last year, it did that thing where it saw me coming and froze. I think it must have survived because I turned round and it had gone, unlike it's dead cousin on the other side of the road who'd obviously come off worse from an encounter with a car.

Bozman

I hit a cat the other week and I still don't know how I managed to stay on the bike, back wheel in the air and shoes out of the cleats.

rs2000kurt

Glad you stayed upright ! Like most others, i've had the usual close encounters with stupid squirrels and rabbits but the best was when i kicked a magpie in the head. It hopped out of a bush right next to me, just as my foot was at the lowest point and POW. . a plume of feather ! Think it survived and still makes me laugh.

vs

I rode over a squirrel's tail descending Dunkery Beacon on Sunday, that was a heart in the mouth moment for both of us I imagine.

paulhino

I rode over a cat last week. Came off the bike with a broken shoulder and a grazed elbow.

hypster

I rode over a rabbit and broke its back so had to stop and humanely dispatch it. I've also ridden over a squirrel's tail that ran out from the side of the road but he must have been okay because he scurried away. I've also had two birds fly into me, a pidgeon and a sparrow (at different times!). I guess I'm just a wildlife magnet! (I do live in the country as well though).

We also quite often have close encounters with deer in our neck of the woods so I'm always mindful to look out for them, especially on fast descents. I was on a sportive a couple of years ago and descending at about 35mph when a deer came out just in front of my mate who was just ahead of me. One second later and he would have hit it I'm sure.

mrfpb

I've hit a pigeon on a narrow road with a car coming the other way. The pigeon obviously thought I was the better option. Quite scary as, obviously, I had a serious wobble with no room to manoeuvre. The pigeon survived and flew off intact.

homers_double

hypster wrote:

I was on a sportive a couple of years ago and descending at about 35mph when a deer came out just in front of my mate who was just ahead of me. One second later and he would have hit it I'm sure.

A regular occurance on my local MTB loop, the hills around Watergrove Reservoir have quite a few deer and whilst night riding I've come round a bend at about 15-20mph and almost hit a few.

defride

The odds around here are pretty good. I had a small rabbit run between my wheels yesterday, was doing around 16mph at the time. Pretty lucky rabbit and probably me

fishyweb

I had a wasp down my jersey on a descent last year. I came off worse.

IanRCarter

^ Had a wasp go straight into my mouth and start to go down with my dinner once, ended up choking it back up. Thankfully it was dead, I think being stung inside my throat might have had rather nasty consequences.

I saw some rabbits on the side of the road last night, I just thought they looked cute and cuddly, I think I'll be a bit more wary of them in future and reading through this thread!

Wily-Quixote

I've nearly hit kangaroo a few times - clearly the odds of that are greater in my neck of the woods than in yours.

borisface

I've accidentally run over snakes a couple of times that have come onto the tarmac to warm up. You don't always see them on the road if there are shadows and/or they look a bit like a flattened piece of eucalyptus branch. I live in Portugal by the way.

term1te

A dragonfly went through my front wheel once, it made a dry crunchy sound as its thorax seperated from its abdomen. I'm always hitting slugs, which make a terrible mess if their innards stick to the frame, or worse your leg, I think they are out to get me.

Years ago my father hit a dog that ran into the road when he was riding a motorbike. He stopped to look at the motionless dog. Whilst he was being berated by a small crowd of onlookers the dog got up and ran off.

CXrider

wavefront wrote:

Think you were lucky!! Is that the road from Ripley? I often take the parallel one, Hungry Hill to Newlands/Staples but it's the pheasants along there that have nearly taken me out on a few occasions! Used to be the potholes you'd watch out for, now it's wildlife! Always wondered who would come off worse - rider or animal!

Ha.

yeah, it was Ripley Lane, heading towards that Lotus garage. It's a regular route of mine, straight ahead at Lotus and up that hill sequence, down the other side which is bloody fast and dangerous, and then across the main road, through Albury and hook a right up Guildford Lane for some of that 'orrible steep climbing stuff before back down into Guildford.

CXrider

hypster wrote:

I rode over a rabbit and broke its back so had to stop and humanely dispatch it.

That is/was my biggest fear. I am not sure if I have the stomach to do it but then again, have never been in that position to have to make that decision.

I saw a deer once by the side of the road with one of its hind legs ripped off and a driver was stroking it. Horrible, I don't know that ended. By the time you call a vet or RSPCA the animal would be suffering horrifically.

Wish I hadn't started this thread now. :roll: :?

mpatts

You should have bunny hopped.



(I'll get my coat)

CXrider

mpatts wrote:

You should have bunny hopped.



(I'll get my coat)

Ha. Takes me back to my BMX days..

I am surprised it took somebody this long to come up with that..

.. or this:

Ran over a rabbit - missus was in tears:
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mpatts

I once injured a rabbit while out on a ride. I made a run for it.

veronese68

This reminded me of another incident. A friend of mine hit a wild boar whilst riding a motorbike in Tuscany. He came off and the boar was less than pleased and started attacking him. A car came round the corner and saw what was happening, the driver of the car rammed the boar 3 or 4 times until it had enough and ran off into the undergrowth.

HellsCyclist

CXrider wrote:

Was riding along a country lane coming up to the Lotus garage on my usual Newlands Corner hill route..

I was only doing about 12 - 14 MPH as I was looking to keep it steady before some serious hill work when out of the corner of my eye I say a grey flash. I then heard and felt a bump as my front tyre was jolted due to an object. I knew that it must have been related to the grey flash so i looked behind me fearing the worst and spotted a rabbit scrabbling off into the bushes.

I thought I would have killed it outright as I must have gone over either his neck, head or torso due to the bump.
It did seem a bit lower as it scrambled away but I was glad it was not just laying there putting me in that awful position of whether to finish it off or not.

it still made me think though.. poor rabbit, I hope it's not now laying in agony dying slowly and also how lucky I was that I was not kicked off the bike.

I have seen a fair few rabbits at the side of a road but what are the actual chances of one running right out at speed from one bush straight under my wheel?

Similar thing nearly happened to me. A bird flew out from the bushes and nearly ended up in the spokes of my front wheel. Fortunately it did manage to swerve around me. I cant understand why animals have to run out in front of whatever it is they are trying to avoid. Its a bit like running across a railway line to avoid a train when your not already on the railway line.

adamfo

A while back I was coming back from a ride on my MTB and almost ran over a family of baby weasels playing in my front garden. Elusive things, they ran off with their mother and I've never seen them again.

MichaelW

what are the actual chances of one running right out at speed from one bush straight under my wheel?

2,961,682:1

Wily-Quixote

Of course, the afternoon after making a comment about running into kangaroos i was returning home on a bike path and an owl fair on hits me fair on the top of my helmet. Chasing after insects attracted by my helmet mounted light, I daresay.

CXrider

Ha, not been hit by a bird yet but why do they sit there in the middle of the road until you are two foot away.
It is a bit disconcerting.

Not quite the same but I got hit by an overhanging branch on the club run. My fault, I was warned it was coming up but didn't realise it came out 4 foot! It was only a glancing blow thankfully as I just spotted it in my periphery and had started swerving. Felt a bit of a twat really.

The Kellyboy

I startled a squirrel not so long ago & my mates about 5 yards behind me had a shock when it leapt straight up and nearly hit one of them in the head!

(it escaped unharmed - as did the 3 of us!)