Another maybe not so funny animal encounter

[Running Mommy]

I do have cool wildlife sightings too though. When I trail run I always see little white tailed bunnies and the occasional prairie dog. But my all time favorite is when I see a road runner. One was running with me as I rode by one day. I couldn't help but let out a "beep beep"

[Runnin Rat]

While training for my first marathon (4 years ago) my running partner and I decided to drive out 15 miles, park the car, then drive in. Keep in mind this is Nevada, very hot in the summer. We started at 3:00am. As we were stretching by our car, SHE made a terrible noise. I let it slide, until she did it again! "Are you ok?" I asked. "That wasn't me! There's something out there!" she was whispering, I guess she didn't want 'it' to hear us. "Open the door" I whispered back "I can't, the key is tied to my shoe." 'it' was getting closer. My first thought was "no one told me there were mountain lions out here! Did we think to slip her shoe off her foot? Nah, that would have been way to easy. Instead, we hoisted her foot up to the door, twisted and wrenched her leg around till we could get the key in, all the time 'it' was getting closer and closer. Once the door was open, I about poll vaunted over her to get in. I wasn't going to wait for her open the back door. We slammed the door and promptly locked it, like 'it' know how to open a door! I was mad. Our run has just been foiled. She wanted to see what our predator looked like. I didn't want to see a big cat up close! We maneuvered the car lights so we could see.....a donkey. Yep, none other than a scared little boar. We got back out of the car and did our run.

That was my scariest encounter with wildlife so far. We see coyotes constantly, they come up to my back door all the time, snakes, lizards, bunnies, road runners, desert tortoises, etc. That is why I like the desert. I don't, however, enjoy the domestic creatures who want to let me know who's road I am really on!

I don't carry mace with me, I carry a hand bee bee gun. It is highly effective so far. People think it is a 'real' gun, and dogs don't like the noise it makes, or how it feels when I actually hit them.

[SadieKate]

I have never seen a Cougar but in some of the places I mountain bike they have warning signs about them. When I cycle at these spots I try hard to keep up with my riding partner Im such a chicken.

No, no, no. You are not a chicken. Stay together. If someone needs to fix a flat, someone should be on the lookout.

I've seen lots of mountain lions at Cool/Olmstead, Foresthill and Salmon Falls. Never had a problem, but I'm not going to temp fate. The one at Salmon Falls was on a boulder above Bubba's head.

http://comspark.com/esarc/searches/94mtnlion.htm

[Trekhawk]

No, no, no. You are not a chicken. Stay together. If someone needs to fix a flat, someone should be on the lookout.

I've seen lots of mountain lions at Cool/Olmstead, Foresthill and Salmon Falls. Never had a problem, but I'm not going to temp fate. The one at Salmon Falls was on a boulder above Bubba's head.

http://comspark.com/esarc/searches/94mtnlion.htm

SadieKate - yikes - thanks for the tip I will make sure we stick together.

[crazycanuck]

Roadrunners! Wow, i thought they only existed in cartoons.

Naieve Canadian here, do tell me about them.

c

[nuthatch]

ummm....sometimes I see a bunny rabbit....and there's a new Basset Hound in the neighborhood....

Livin' in Tame Land, Chicago.

Cool to hear these stories. L.

Lise, I believe there was a recent bobcat sighting on the bike trail in Waterfall Glen down here in Dupage county. Come on down and live the wild life!

[bcipam]

I'd have to rescue the tarantula, since I like spiders (in their place) and hate wasps.


Nanci

Nanci, hon, think about it - the wasp can drag a tarantula across the trail...

it's very big and it's sting very painful and by the time the wasp is dragging the spider , the spider is basically dead (so leave it be).

The wasp also has to eat. It's a beautiful insect. About 3 inches long. Black and shiny with bright shiny orange wings. I love seeing them fly along.
If this makes you feel better, it typically only stings male spiders. The females are safely hinden in their burrows!

PS: And we see Roadrunners as well. Alway a cool sighting although not as common as coyotes and bobcats.

[Nanci]

Beautiful wasp is an oxymoron!

But, if you say so, the tarantula wasp can be the exception.

Nanci

[bcipam]

I like all of God's little creatures, spider and wasp alike. I'm constantly fascinated by how each is designed to fit into their little earthly niche. Imagine if there were no wasps, those big spiders would be everyway. Nature's way of keeping that population in check.

Back to Coyotes, perfect example of what happens when we interfere with nature - by building too many houses, roads, etc. Chino Hills is an amazing place. Just be there sometime around sunset and the coyotes come out of the "woodwork" - they are everywhere, way too many for the ecological to support or handle so they spread out into the local neighborhood. Many a home owner has lost a "fluffy" to a coyote. Not their fault they have to eat as well. One evening a friend and I were riding in Chino Hills just as the sun set and the coyotes yodels began. I got alittle scared. It seemed like they were everywhere and I'm sure we were surrounded. You could see a whole pack standing on the ridgeline. Coyotes and cats all packed into a fairly small space - not good.

This weekend, if it doesn't rain, I'm leading a ride into Fremont Canyon which is where the last big SoCal wild fire hit. Will be interesting to see the destruction. Imagine all the displaced animals?

Enough sadness - funny animal encounter - was leading a ride through Limestone Canyon. This was a family ride. One young guy, about 10, was riding in front of me. All of a sudden a large gopher snake came out of the brush right across the trail and right into this young guy's wheel. It spun around once and out the other side. Freaked the kid out. I thought it was extremely funny and cool (especially since it looked like the snake was OK). Bet that young guy will never forget his snake encounter!!!!

[Lise]

Lise, I believe there was a recent bobcat sighting on the bike trail in Waterfall Glen down here in Dupage county. Come on down and live the wild life!

I have got to get into the wilds of Illinois! Just the words "waterfall", "glen", and "DuPage county" in the same sentence make me happy! OK! Let's do it! Illinois gals, let's go out and ride with nuthatch and give these wilderness gals some good stories!

Say: Yes, spring is coming, yes, spring is coming, yes, spring is coming. now click heels three times...

[Nanci]

From a webpage describing safety issues on the rails-to-trails trail I rode Tuesday evening with my cousin:

"Wildlife: There are many forms of wildlife to be seen on or from the Trail. Please limit your interaction with wildlife to observation and photography. Trail users should not approach or attempt to physically interact with wildlife. It is not unusual to see alligators, poisonous snakes, wild horses and other potentially dangerous wildlife on or near the Trail."

Nice combination, huh?

Nanci

[wabisabi]

I was a Nevadan for almost 25 years, and those wild burros and horses can be pretty wild during mating season; the dogs and I would take a good detour around them when they were in heat and not in their right minds! They can sound pretty unearthly also. And then of course there are the rattlers, and tarantulas and scorpions and mtn. lions, coyotes and bears (sometimes young mtn. lions would come into Reno and hang out by--casinos).