Hitchhiker?

[Susan126]

Very cute squirrel but I have a fear of them whenever I see one while on my bike. My friend had a squirrel run in front of her 11 years ago while she was coming down a hill. She tried to avoid it but it did this crazy back and forth indecisive dance and she hit it. She went over her handlebar and broke her jaw. It took her a long long time to get back on her bike. And that image of my friend's jaw always pops into my mind whenever I see a squirrel on the road. And believe me we have a lot of those little buggers here!

[Aggie_Ama]

The one I am really thinking of is a guy who was on my husband's college cycling team. Our university and the neighborhoods around it are lined with oaks, grand oaks full of squirrels! This guy was leaving campus heading to the historic district when a psycho squirrel bolted out, through his front wheel. He endoed, tacoed the tire, broke his collarbone and sprained his ankle. Plus he had tons of road rash and grossly a dead squirrel wedged between the steel fork and his tire. Sorry for the graphic description but I seriously get nervous with those little guys.

I have also seen a squirrel break a carbon fork and the rider with some of the nastiest road rash ever. Don't know the status of his attacker, he was just in the LBS.

I am pretty sure the insurance company was on the mark with the squirrels playing chicken ad a couple years ago. Might have been a car company but the squirrels are in the road to terrorize the motorists and high five when the car runs off the road?

[kfergos]

I think I hit a chipmunk a while ago. It dashed right between my front and rear wheels; I didn't want to crash, but I did feel a kind of thump from my rear tire, so... I felt bad, but at least I didn't end up like the guy in Aggie_Ama's story! (ew)

I do have a squirrel story, but not biking related. In Mt. Rainier National Park, we were sitting in the parking lot at a visitor's center eating apples. A squirrel ran up my mom's leg and arm, grabbed her apple, and made off with it. We just sat in shock as it disappeared into the bushes.

[PscyclePath]

I am pretty sure the insurance company was on the mark with the squirrels playing chicken ad a couple years ago. Might have been a car company but the squirrels are in the road to terrorize the motorists and high five when the car runs off the road?

I remember that commercial, and was rooting for the squirrels.

I like squirrels... I encounter them just about every day on my commute, and chat with them as we roll along. Yep, I slow down when they get a little squirrelly and aren't sure which way to run, and I haven't hit one yet. I have hit a German shepherd and a deer, and for that matter I still like dogs and deer better than I like a whole lot of folks.

I think Yehuda has the right philosophy here, and it's a pretty poignant little cartoon:



Rick Smith, who draws Yehuda, seems to like squirrels too, since they seem to be a recurring theme in the strip...

Tom

[coyote]

{{{{{shudder}}}}}
NO, NO NOT the SQUIRRLES
I was walking thru a park with a shopping cart. A pack of those buggers chased after me. I ended up throwing them my box of donuts and making a run for it. I didn't stop till I was a couple blocks from the park. The stuff nightmares are made of.

[wildhawk]

Wow - thanks for the responses. And I also have to deal with squirrels every single day on that trail - they are basically obnoxious in the way they dart to and fro, but I have learned to make a combo hiss sound at them and they run off the trail completely. I guess I sound like a huge cat and probably look like one too. I just thought it was a cute pose - we were stopped under a shelter having a snack. Most of the squirrels in that park are used to the seniors hand feeding them - one of my pet peeves BTW. Today when I stopped one of them started climbing my leg and I hissed at him and off he ran. It works. BTW, when I finished my twenty mile ride and was leaving the park, I saw a dead squirrel - I guess he made a dash in front of a car for the last time.

[Aggie_Ama]

Ahhh my Pawpaw fed the squirrels that came in his backyard, amused him to no end. The problem was he passed and no one kept it up. I always wondered if they were too spoiled and died by not knowing to go get their own food. I hope not.

[wildhawk]

Aggie,
Your Pawpaw sounds a lot like mine - he was an old Blue Ridge Mountain man and had a real love of animals. He once had an owl land on his shoulder after he called to it. I guess that’s where I get my love of nature and animals - from him. Precious memories.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I saw a red squirrel on my last mtn bike ride a couple of weeks ago. Very neat.

I had a porcupine in my wedding party but I'll save that story for another day...

I guess after years of working in wildlife rehab I would rather trash my bike and break my neck than run one over. Oh well. I don't go that fast so it shouldn't be too bad of a crash...I already missed a deer. How did we go from look at the cute squirrel to road kill anyway?!

[Fujichants]

{{{{{shudder}}}}}
NO, NO NOT the SQUIRRLES
I was walking thru a park with a shopping cart. A pack of those buggers chased after me. I ended up throwing them my box of donuts and making a run for it. I didn't stop till I was a couple blocks from the park. The stuff nightmares are made of.

LOL! Sorry, it must have been terrifying, but I can just imagine it!