Badger Warning

marcruse

I don't remember ever seeing a live badger (plenty of dead ones) on my evening rides through the dark lanes of Suffolk, but tonight I saw two! The first one jumped into the hedge when it saw me. The second one jumped out of the hedge, ran halfway across the road, then turned round and dived under my back wheel. Still not sure how I managed to stay upright - it was like hitting a block of concrete.
Fortunately, bike seems undamaged. Badger was obviously a bit p*55ed off! Hissed & ran after me.

verylonglegs

Was hoping for a pithy Hinault story if I'm honest.

redvee

I've seen them in images but till I saw one after hearing it's claws on the pavement I only realised the size of them. It's no wonder they can do a lot of damage to a car or cyclist.

solosuperia

Postby verylonglegs » Wed Oct 19, 2016 9:04 pm
Was hoping for a pithy Hinault story if I'm honest.

Not making a comeback is he?????

DeVlaeminck

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

mamba80

redvee wrote:

I've seen them in images but till I saw one after hearing it's claws on the pavement I only realised the size of them. It's no wonder they can do a lot of damage to a car or cyclist.

hit one in my company car, smashed up the all the front body work, ripped off the panels underneath the car and radiator, tow truck home......

they dont have any natural predators and there are too many, regardless of the TB debate.

veronese68

Be glad we're unlikely to hit a wild boar.

haydenm

I hit one last winter, rode clean over the top of it and somehow manged to stay on

ballysmate

Anyone coming across any badgers beware that Ron Davies may be hiding in the nearby bushes with his pants round his ankles.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... avies.html

keef66

I've had a few badger close encounters, also on Suffolk lanes. They don't seem at all spooked by a bright light attached to a bike; once they've decided to cross the road they just keep going. At least with the black and white stripes on the head they stand out in the headlight. The deer are the ones that really concern me. Often crossing the road in a group, and they do startle easily and I have no idea where they'll go. I think hooves and antlers trump a stripy doormat.

Garry H

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I've often wondered the very same thing. I have my theories and, going by the tone of your post, they are very similar to yours...

marcruse

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

ballysmate

marcruse wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

As allegedly do badger baiters.

awavey

marcruse wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

well you can never say it doesnt happen, but realistically badgers tend to wander around alot later at night,more like early morning, than maybe the likes of Springwatch make people believe from all their cute cameras.

Ive only seen wild badgers out and about regularly in the very early hours of the morning, and Im not likely to be riding a bike around then, so if you do see them roaming around earlier than that, and yes I have on occasion seen them, its likely they are either old,ill or incredibly hungry, consequently they may well be the ones you see end up on the side of the road more often and have simply died from natural causes. they end up on the side of the road for the same reason all the other rubbish & detritus aggregates there, it gets hit by a larger object which pushes it there.

marcruse

awavey wrote:

marcruse wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

well you can never say it doesnt happen, but realistically badgers tend to wander around alot later at night,more like early morning, than maybe the likes of Springwatch make people believe from all their cute cameras.

Ive only seen wild badgers out and about regularly in the very early hours of the morning, and Im not likely to be riding a bike around then, so if you do see them roaming around earlier than that, and yes I have on occasion seen them, its likely they are either old,ill or incredibly hungry, consequently they may well be the ones you see end up on the side of the road more often and have simply died from natural causes. they end up on the side of the road for the same reason all the other rubbish & detritus aggregates there, it gets hit by a larger object which pushes it there.

That's why seeing two within about half a mile of each other at about 8pm was such a surprise - having never seen a live one "in the flesh" before

mamba80

marcruse wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

i think the reason is, the badger goes under the car and in my case, you could hear it as it rolled under neath, it carries on rolling and due to the camber, ends up in the gutter.
if they are hit by the wheel, they ll get thrown and again roll into the gutter, they are big things and have a lot of momentum.

Farmers no doubt have other ways to kill them than a gun and unless your close you d not use a 12b, i cant imagine they pile em up in the landie and dump the bodies on the road, this isnt Mexico :shock:

daniel_b

HaydenM wrote:

I hit one last winter, rode clean over the top of it and somehow manged to stay on

Is that not a Badger hop?

I stumbled on one at the bottom of my back garden a couple of years ago - we were both rather surprised to say the least.

Bucksspeedyboy

Lots of badgers round where I live in Buckinghamshire with many lying dead on the side of the road. But a couple of weeks ago on my way to a Sportive I had to drive from one side of Hertfordshire to the other. It was early Sunday morning and everyone of the electric traffic message boards in the county was saying to be aware of deer - even in the middle of built up areas like the centre of Hemel Hempstead.

Then the other day, some daft woman on our local radio was complaining that she had hit a deer with her car near Amptill in Bedfordshire and her car had been seriously damaged. But rather than accept that when you are driving through a heavily wooded area known to have many deer you should take care, she blamed the county council because they hadn't put warnings up "'like they have in Hertfordshire".

Then blow me, that evening out on my bike I came round a corner on a lane and found a deer running across the road in front of me, luckily I wasn't close enough to hit it.

kingstonian

I thought this was about Alistair Darling

Pross

Veronese68 wrote:

Be glad we're unlikely to hit a wild boar.

Unless you ride in the Forest of Dean.

Had a badger amble out in front of me in the car on a local B road at about midnight a few months back. They never seem in a rush to get out of the way like most animals. I was doing about 50 and someone avoided both the badger and the hedge as I swerved partly onto the verge. Ended up with mud all over the front wing and very nearly on the driver's seat!

thebikeboy16

I don't see how this is relevant to cycling.

izza

marcruse wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Had one jump out in front of me and run a good 50 yards down the road before diving into the verge a couple of years back - never seen a live one before or since which always made me wonder how so many seem to get run over and why they are always by the edge of the road rarely in the middle.

I was told that local farmers kill them on their own land and then dump them at the side of the road (it's illegal to kill them without a licence). Seems likely.

Often the case. Despite badgers being nocturnal animals they rely on smell and sound rather than really good eyesight. So they do keep away from noisy roads more than other animals. As such, regular dead badgers on roads is more likely farmers.

Pross

thebikeboy16 wrote:

I don't see how this is relevant to cycling.

Excellent contribution.

The Cake Stop
The place for more serious off topic questions, light hearted banter and friendly chat.

Or am I missing some deeply ironic comment?

veronese68

Pross wrote:

Or am I missing some deeply ironic comment?

I like the fact that this is about the only thread in cake stop that does have some relevance to cycling.

daniel_b

Pross wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Be glad we're unlikely to hit a wild boar.

Unless you ride in the Forest of Dean.

Had a badger amble out in front of me in the car on a local B road at about midnight a few months back. They never seem in a rush to get out of the way like most animals. I was doing about 50 and someone avoided both the badger and the hedge as I swerved partly onto the verge. Ended up with mud all over the front wing and very nearly on the driver's seat!

Was this someone you, or were you momentarily possessed by another being, Mr Badger perhaps?

Giraffoto

I see them quite often but have never actually run into one. Lovely animals, and a far better candidate for a symbolically British animal than either lions or bulldogs.

oblongomaculatus

Think I've told this story here somewhere before, but on the subject of animals on the road, you rarely see dead crows. The reason being, I now know, they're traffic savvy. A while ago I came round a corner to see one walking across the road. It clearly didn't know I was there, so I made a clicking noise with my mouth. Instead of flying off in a panic as I expected, it looked towards me and then calmly turned round and retreated to the side of the road. I have a mirror on my bike; in it I saw the bird resume its' crossing behind me.

tlw1

I've hit four badgers with the worst causing £3k of damage

Hate the ferkers

bobmcstuff

Badgers are really short sighted so if you approach them at speed they won't see you till it's too late.

cougie

I've had them dart in front of my wheel on the local trails. My lights were plenty bright enough but I guess these don't get much practice. Always nice to see nature though.

Giraffoto

TLW1 wrote:

I've hit four badgers with the worst causing £3k of damage

Hate the ferkers

For one reason and another . . .and another and another . . .I can't imagine they're your biggest fans either. Where do you live that's so badgery?