I'm glad cats don't chase bikes!

[GLC1968]

I hadn't thought of that. I just pedal faster to get away!

I had a dog once that started to chase our new cat. The cat just stood there and when the dog got close the cat rubbed up against the dog. Wow, was that dog confused! The dog never tried to chase that cat again and they became the best of buddies!

Yep, that's pretty common. People used to ask me if my last dog chased cats and my answer was always 'only if they run'!

[krisl6]

My dog is the same. Once he went after a cat in our back yard and when the cat didn't budge my dog just stood there and then looked at me like, "what now". It was too funny!!

[Lakerider]

Another funny cat and dog story...

The dog I have now use to run up to my cat and either run circles around her or the cat would run away. One day the dog ran toward the cat, I guess thinking the cat would run out the way and I guess the cat throught the dog would run around her like she usually did. Well, the dog kept running straight instead of going around the cat and the cat didn't run away. The dog crashed right into the cat! They were both o.k. (but very surprised!) The dog weighs 10 pounds and the cat weighed 12.

[tctrek]

How about deer crossing the trail? On my ride on a local bike path this week I had no less than 10 deer run across the path in front of me? And probably 5 squirrels!! I kept thinking what it would feel like to hit a deer or have a deer hit me. And this was in a very busy suburb. Geeesh...

[staceysue]

How about deer crossing the trail? On my ride on a local bike path this week I had no less than 10 deer run across the path in front of me? And probably 5 squirrels!! I kept thinking what it would feel like to hit a deer or have a deer hit me. And this was in a very busy suburb. Geeesh...

I wonder how often bicyle/deer crashes happen?

[OakLeaf]

I'm guessing there's a limited set of circumstances where bici/deer crashes could happen.

The #1 factor is that when it's full dark out, a lot fewer people are riding their bicycles in places with enough greenspace to have deer, and most of those who are, have the sense to slow down. Not like cars, who (not only because of their own psychology, but also because of the risk of being rear-ended) generally keep going the same speed regardless of visibility.

In most terrain, bicis are going a lot slower than cars anyhow, slow enough to be able to avoid deer safely. And one would hope that bicyclists' vulnerability makes us pay more attention to our surroundings generally, than car drivers do, although I do realize that's not necessarily the case for motorcyclists. It's true for the ones who survive years of riding - but there are unfortunate numbers of the other kind, too.

I've had a couple of, not exactly close calls with deer, but closer than I'd like, and they've all been in the same situation.

Late afternoon/evening (deer o'clock), dappled light with sun and dark through leaves making visibility very difficult, and bombing down a hill way too fast for the light conditions.

[redrhodie]

I've had a really close call with a deer. I was on a bike path, and it leaped out of the woods, over both lanes in half a heartbeat. If I had been a few feet ahead of where I was, I probably would have been knocked off my bike, and possibly trampled. It's not like you can avoid it if it runs into you. It was daylight, and I was paying attention, but he wasn't.

Edit to add, I was on my old bike, so not that fast.