Deer In The Road

[Veronica]

Get a bell.

[Eden]

A bit OT, as I have no idea how to actually deal with deer...

When I was in college I spent a quarter or two commuting to school by bike (in Rochester, NY, in the winter.... I think I was crazy....) One dark, icy morning the herd of deer that used to hang out at the golf course decided to cross the road just as I was coming by Scared the bejeezus out of me.

[limewave]

I've had some close calls with deer as well--especially the early morning rides. There's no one coming for miles and then they decide to jump into the road just as I ride up with my bike.

I've tried waving my hands and yelling too. No luck. There they stand until I'm a foot away.

By the way, the same is true with teenagers riding bikes. They slowly weave back and forth in the middle of the road or on the wrong side of the road. And when I'm five feet from them they veer directly into my path. Texting. They are TEXTING while riding their bikes. Without helments. On the wrong side of the road.

Sorry, OT. But I treat them as cautiously as I treat deer when I see them coming up.

[Veronica]

Teenagers have the same thought processes as deer.

V.

[cyclinnewbie]

Teenagers have the same thought processes as deer.

V.

Ohhhhhhhhhh this made me spit my Diet Dr. Pepper! lolololol

[PscyclePath]

Teenagers have the same thought processes as deer.

V.

Actually, the deer are probably a little smarter...

[sundial]

LOL! I have learned that deer are very inquisitive. That may be part of the problem.

[chutch]

Yup, have to be careful with deer. A guy I know woke up in the middle of a road with a broken bike (and body). Had no idea what had happened to him. Luckily, it was a fairly well traveled road and help arrived quickly.

When one of the mechanics looked at his bike, he found fur/hair and concluded... a deer had jumped out either right on him or right in front of him.

[Kalidurga]

Based on experience with deer out in the woods, I've found that they're more likely to become startled and run off if you stop and stare at them. If you're moving, they're less likely to perceive you as a threat, so they just watch to see what you're going to do. When you stop, though, they realize that you see them and that's when they decide to get the heck out of dodge, as it were.

Squirrels, now, are the ones that I think are truly stupid. I ran over one with my bike once because it scampered to one side of the trail, then changed it's mind and decided that it wanted to go back to the other side just as I was passing it. I've begun watching them since then, and damned if that isn't typical of them. Rabbits are much smarter. They'll run alongside the trail parallel to you, then run away off to the side.

[Eden]

Squirrels, now, are the ones that I think are truly stupid. I ran over one with my bike once because it scampered to one side of the trail, then changed it's mind and decided that it wanted to go back to the other side just as I was passing it.

My husband and I have a theory about this..... we think that they first run from you, then the urge to get to the nearest tree or maybe even "their" tree kicks in and they run to it even if it means crossing your path again...

[newfsmith]

I guess the deer on my former commute (I retired in June, yay me) were unusually smart. I saw lots of deer, when my commutes coincided with dawn or dusk I would see as many a 13 on an 8.5 mi ride. They would stand at the side of the road and watch me. I always figured it was because they were in a wildlife sanctuary and their only real predators were cars, so they were vehicle aware. Too bad some of the drivers on my route weren't as smart. I always gave the dumb prize to the turkeys. They wouldn't move for anything and it wasn't unusual to see 5 or 6 cars waiting for the turkeys to get out of the road. Someday I would like to ride in a bicycle preserve.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We have TONS of deer here.
When I actually SEE a deer in the road or crossing the road, i'm glad because then I can slow down right away and I also know there may be others following it.
It's the deer I DON'T see that worry me. The ones that suddenly come bounding out of the woods a few yards in front of me and leaping right across my path as I'm going 25 mph along a country road.
I know that one day one I am likely to collide with one of these deer ambushes, and it won't be pretty.

This is what happened tome in my car....twice. Deer leaping out from the woods and colliding right into the side of my car as I was driving 25 mph down wooded roads near my home.
Lots of damage- fender/sidepanel replacements, side headlights, passenger window shattered, hood replaced (as the deer bounced off my car side and then landed on the hood). I can only hope some deer doesn't do this to me on my bike.
So....be glad when you SEE the deer.