Quote Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama View Post
I have known two people to have pretty spectacular crashes and injuries from Kamakazi squirrels.
This is probably going to get me a rash of !@#$ here...

so I'll preface it by saying that absolutely I will brake and come to a complete stop if necessary, if the squirrel is far enough ahead of me that I can do that safely. And absolutely I still feel bad about the groundhog I ran over with my motorcycle 14 years ago.

But there are times with a small wild animal like that that you've just got to run over it, unless you really believe that its life is worth more than yours. (And possibly the lives of the people behind you, if you're riding in close quarters.) Bike straight up and down, don't look at the squirrel (target fixation as much as any emotional issues). Trying to respond to a squirrel's instantaneous changes of direction at the same time you're braking and trying to stay on two wheels is a recipe for disaster.