Wildlife on the commute...

[northstar]

So glad to be back to school...even if my giddiness is mostly about commuting! So far, I've seen a deer along the trail every morning I've ridden in! Not to mention hearing geese honking, rabbits darting off the trail, woodchucks diving into their holes and peeking up again...it's been great.

Anyone else see any wildlife on your way to work? Jeez...on the way home, I see mostly cats on leashes.

[7rider]

Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!

[margo49]

Screamin' green parakeets in flocks of a dozen.
The sunrise (still-life but wild orange colour)

[northstar]

Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!

I hate to say it, but I'd love it if you'd take out as many squirrels as possible. Little jerks dig up my tulip bulbs and terrorize my garden. Sorry, animal lovers. I used to think they were cute. Now I just think they're vandals.

[bmccasland]

Northstar - Squirrels in a sauce picant? I have squirrel recipies in a Cajun cookbook. When I lived in the mountains of Arizona, it wasn't the squirrels raiding my garden, but big elk. Nothing quite like turning on the kitchen light in the early morning to have an Elk's head pop up with a red tulip in her mouth (think red rose in a flaminco dancer's). Wished I had a camera. But it was EARLY in the morning, before my coffee.

Let's see - on the levee rides I see bunnies, Mississippi Kites (a type of hawk) and vultures. Along with gulls and terns. Since I'm essentially urban riding, I don't get to see "fun" wildlife.

[RoadRaven]

Northstar... move here - no squirrels at all... in fact, very few animals that bug anyone/their gardens here...

If i'm lucky I might see a bunny, but apart from pets and farm animals, thats the only mammal I have seen...

[HappyAnika]

I used to think they were cute. Now I just think they're vandals.

It's nut season here. We have 3 huge walnut trees in our front yard. The squirrels sit up in them and wait for you to walk by so they can pelt you with shells and whole nuts. And if they miss you they'll throw them at your car instead. Ok, I realize they don't really have it in for me, but it's still dangerous to be out there. I should wear my bike helmet when I mow. I still think they are cute, I've gotten over them eating my cucumbers.

Prairie dogs, prairie dogs everywhere! Depending on where I am, I can usually whistle to warn them I'm coming and they run back to their burrows. However on the heavily traveled MUPs they have no fear. Other wise there's not much other than birds and bunnies. I saw a coyote once far away, a raccoon once in the neighborhood, and a deer once at work. I saw a family of wild turkeys once on a non-commute ride, actually had to stop and wait for them all to get across the road, it was really cute.

[northstar]

It's nut season here. We have 3 huge walnut trees in our front yard. The squirrels sit up in them and wait for you to walk by so they can pelt you with shells and whole nuts. And if they miss you they'll throw them at your car instead.

Ohh, yeah. We have oak trees. I feel ya.

I get so nervous when running over the acorns with my road bike! They shoot like little bullets as they pop off to each side! Ping, ping!

[7rider]

It's nut season here. We have 3 huge walnut trees in our front yard. The squirrels sit up in them and wait for you to walk by so they can pelt you with shells and whole nuts. And if they miss you they'll throw them at your car instead.

We have a hickory tree in our front yard.
Gone are the days of walking out to get the mail barefoot. OUCH!
The tree rats - er, squirrels - are turning the shell casings into fine compost for the front yard. <<crunch, crunch, crunch>>

[cinnamon_toast]

Lots of cute turkey families... A few pheasants here and there. Deer are a common occurrence and they must be accustomed to bikers because they are not yielding on the trail. It's actually kind of freaky to see a huge momma dear just a few feet from where you're biking and wondering what exactly her intentions are, particularly when the babies are in sight as well. I see a lot of turtles. Bunnies by the dozen. And my first beaver last night.

[coyote]

Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!

suicidal ground squirrels here...sometimes I lean over the handles bars and scream "rrrunnnnn" at them.

I did startle a hawk a couple of weeks ago and it flew off right in front of me. I've seen jackrabbits, cottontails, lots of lizards, road runners, a king snake, bull frog, western painted turtle (probable an abandoned pet) and some coyotes. We also have some really cute gamble's quail. They have a little crown on thier head that wabbles back and forth.

One of the joys of commuting for me is all the wild life

[Kathi]

But we weren't riding our bikes. On the way to Jackson Hole we went to visit a friend in Powell, Wy. 1.5 miles from town a deer jumped in front of my car. We didn't see the deer or feel any jolt from the impact but only saw pieces of my car flying. We stopped and walked back, found the deer on the other side of the road in the ditch. Unfortunately, the deer did not survive. We were ok.

My Honda CRV is now in Powell, Wy. waiting to be repaired. Most of the damage was to the radiator, bumper, grill and driver's side panel.

Thrifty gave us a Ford Explorer. Can you believe that it doesn't carry our bikes and luggage as well as my CRV!

Driving into Yellowstone we saw moose and buffalo. On our bicycle ride yesterday we saw an osprey.

[JmcG]

I see a deer family every morning on my commute by Georgetown on the trail. They're very calm and usually if they move, it's not until you're almost near them. I also see canadian geese, lizards (skinks?), sometimes black snakes in the spring when they're trying to get warm, squirrels, a tortoise once that I stopped for and moved off the trail, blue heron - I think they're my favorite birds - they're so graceful, homeless people sleeping along the trail........

[crazycanuck]

I often hear frogs along the roe highway bike path and often wonder if it's a person as it sounds similar!

On the swan river bike path I often see pelicans (don't watch the pelicans, watch the bike path..reminder to self.. ), shags, dolphins, swans & fantails.

Along Mounts Bay Road I encounter suicidal wild lorikeets, geese and gallahs...
C

[Tater]

Anyone else see any wildlife on your way to work?

Do rednecks count? Lately it has been the occassional red squirrel, a lot of honking Canadian geese overhead and a couple sharp shinned hawks.