Have you hit an animal on your bike?

[unwind2]

Three of us riding out in country summer before last. I was the last bike and the other two slowed down when they realized I was dropping way behind. I caught up and waved them to go on. When we got to a stop sign I told them needed to pull over. .....I wanted to get the dead bee out of my blouse! It had flown down by blouse and was stinging me on my....um...chest....that's why I dropped back.....it kept stinging and I had no choice but to crush it against myself with my left hand. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Good thing I'm not alergic!

Three of us riding out in country summer before last. I was the last bike and the other two slowed down when they realized I was dropping way behind. I caught up and waved them to go on. When we got to a stop sign I told them needed to pull over. .....I wanted to get the dead bee out of my blouse! It had flown down by blouse and was stinging me on my....um...chest....that's why I dropped back.....it kept stinging and I had no choice but to crush it against myself with my left hand. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Good thing I'm not alergic!

I saw that video on Youtube! :)

[unwind2]

[quote:ulfmpdkd]Three of us riding out in country summer before last. I was the last bike and the other two slowed down when they realized I was dropping way behind. I caught up and waved them to go on. When we got to a stop sign I told them needed to pull over. .....I wanted to get the dead bee out of my blouse! It had flown down by blouse and was stinging me on my....um...chest....that's why I dropped back.....it kept stinging and I had no choice but to crush it against myself with my left hand. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Good thing I'm not alergic!

I saw that video on Youtube! :)[/quote:ulfmpdkd]

[waterman]

I have hit just 2 birds. Instant feather bath both times. The closest I came to a larger animal was a racoon crossing the highway at night. Laid on the brakes and the stupid thing stopped. Missed him by a foot.

[Idaho]

Three birds, one squirrel and a cat. No, not all at once. Birds are cool when you look in the mirrors, looks like you drove thru a pillow. Poof!

[gshep]

About hitting animals, I found this video . Hope the link works.

[bobzinger]

I was on a ride with 5 other bikes up on Rt49 near Sierraville, CA when a deer jumped out in front of my buddy Jim and his wife. At 50 mph they hit the deer and went down. Jim had a badly cut hand and sprained ankle. His wife Marissa had some bruises. Otherwise OK. The bike needed about $2000 worth of repairs.

I hit a ground squirrel the other day....still have some intestines hanging off the fender as a warning...it keeps the other squirrels from making the same mistake.

[jussmatt]

One of the other threads ties in with this one... "HOW DID YOU GET YOUR NICKNAME?".. Was out with some buds riding... Buddy was riding a 750 Shadow... he's done a few things to it...so it's a nice bike.. About 8 of us...2 wide in our lane on a country road... I was riding 2nd to last and my Bud was leading the pack... all of the sudden.. a hawk flew out infront of him and he drilled it right below his headlight. Talk about feathers EVERYWHERE!! We were all riding through the exploding pillow!! Once we realized he was alright and nothing hurt...we had to pull over for a good laugh. Hence where he got his nickname... "Hawk" Since then I think he's claimed a buzzard which he said stinks like the south bound end of Nico, BD, or SWB!!! Guess he was lucky he hit the hawk first...otherwise we might be calling him Buzzard!! LOL!

[Yellow Jacket]

I haven't hit anything on my bike yet but I gotta tell you this one.

It was 1960 back home in southern Michigan...farm country...I was following my friend Tim into town to his house. He was driving his 53 Ford and I was about 100 feet behind him in my 50 Mercury. We were running about 50 mph. Apparently a farm wagon had spilled some oats or wheat on the road. There was a flock of sparrows in the road feasting. Must have been over a hundred of them. These dumb birds saw Tim coming and waited until he was almost on them and then the whole flock lifted straight up and let him go under them. They immediately dropped back down to resume eating...never saw me. Man the noise was awesome as they bounced off the fenders, hood and windshield! I must have hit 40 or 50 of them. Tim was watching the whole thing in his rear view mirror and almost ran off the road laughing. He said all he could see was a huge cloud of feathers with bird bodies flying in all directions. When we got to his house I checked the grille of the Mercury. We had to pick out at least 10 dead sparrows. If PETA had been around back then they probably would have sued me for not running off the road to miss the birds.

[ells]

Okay Bob, I got to follow with this one - When I was just a mere 18-year old and just figuring out the car driving stuff, I rear-ended a small truck stopped in the middle of the road in the middle of the night because of some local distractions. No injuries to anyone but my pride and driving record but the impact knocked out the circulation pump the was keeping a tank full of minnows alive in the back of the truck. My insurance paid of for $800 worth of minnows, which at the time I think sold for about 25 cents a dozen. (I have a copy of the local newspaper story) For years, and maybe still, I believe I held the record for taking the most lives in a single hiway accident. Actually, this is somewhat motorcycle related because while the car (my parents') was being repaired, a friend let me ride his Honda 500, the biggest thing they built at the time I think, and it felt real good compared to the 50s and 90s I had ridden before that. It was that feeling I was looking for when I got back into riding some 30+ years later. (Sorry Dan, but this tread had about run its course anyway)

[dantama]

(Sorry Dan, but this tread had about run its course anyway)

Some of us will hit something this summer and add some fresh ones to the tally.

[ells]

[quote:ppitgfjz] (Sorry Dan, but this tread had about run its course anyway)

Some of us will hit something this summer and add some fresh ones to the tally. [/quote:ppitgfjz]

That's true, thought about that after I made the comment. Let's hope this thread helps keep folks a little more tuned in to the potential, I think about it a lot on US36 and elsewhere.

[nighthawk700]

I ran over a suicidal chipmunk one day. There was nothing on the road for a mile, I was coming in plain view. He ran out, saw me, starting running back, stopped, ran out again, ran back again, back and forth for 5-6 times. Then right under the wheels he went. Probably better that he didn't live to breed, who knows how goofy the kids would have been?

I think I also hit a bat one time, but it was dusk, and I couldn't see it very clearly. Didn't fly very smoothly, so I didn't think it was a bird.

Once in my van I thought I hit a bird after leaving some relatives in Canada. Got back home to Viriginia, and saw a head poking out of the hood. I hope the death was quick, otherwise he had a very scary and painful 8 hour trip!

[01nomad]

Several years ago, I hit two peasants with-in two miles. It was dark and the first one bounced off my fairing. The second ones wing tip touched my nose. I was glad to be only two miles from home. Several years before that, I came with-in inches of a deer, again at night. I don't do much night riding anymore!

Most if not all of my close calls with animals, other drivers and road debris has been at night so I don't ride at night if I don't have to.