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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Posts
    502

    Wildlife on the commute...

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    So glad to be back to school...even if my giddiness is mostly about commuting! So far, I've seen a deer along the trail every morning I've ridden in! Not to mention hearing geese honking, rabbits darting off the trail, woodchucks diving into their holes and peeking up again...it's been great.

    Anyone else see any wildlife on your way to work? Jeez...on the way home, I see mostly cats on leashes.
    2007 Trek 5000
    2009 Jamis Coda
    1972 Schwinn Suburban

    "I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood."
    Susan B. Anthony, 1896

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Looking at all the love there that's sleeping
    Posts
    4,171
    Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
    And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!
    2007 Seven ID8 - Bontrager InForm
    2003 Klein Palomino - Terry Firefly (?)
    2010 Seven Cafe Racer - Bontrager InForm
    2008 Cervelo P2C - Adamo Prologue Saddle

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Israel (Middle East)
    Posts
    1,199
    Screamin' green parakeets in flocks of a dozen.
    The sunrise (still-life but wild orange colour)

    All you need is love...la-dee-da-dee-da...all you need is love!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Posts
    502
    Quote Originally Posted by Regina View Post
    Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
    And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!
    I hate to say it, but I'd love it if you'd take out as many squirrels as possible. Little jerks dig up my tulip bulbs and terrorize my garden. Sorry, animal lovers. I used to think they were cute. Now I just think they're vandals.
    2007 Trek 5000
    2009 Jamis Coda
    1972 Schwinn Suburban

    "I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood."
    Susan B. Anthony, 1896

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    around Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,238

    stew?

    Northstar - Squirrels in a sauce picant? I have squirrel recipies in a Cajun cookbook. When I lived in the mountains of Arizona, it wasn't the squirrels raiding my garden, but big elk. Nothing quite like turning on the kitchen light in the early morning to have an Elk's head pop up with a red tulip in her mouth (think red rose in a flaminco dancer's). Wished I had a camera. But it was EARLY in the morning, before my coffee.

    Let's see - on the levee rides I see bunnies, Mississippi Kites (a type of hawk) and vultures. Along with gulls and terns. Since I'm essentially urban riding, I don't get to see "fun" wildlife.
    Beth

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Posts
    3,997
    Northstar... move here - no squirrels at all... in fact, very few animals that bug anyone/their gardens here...

    If i'm lucky I might see a bunny, but apart from pets and farm animals, thats the only mammal I have seen...


    Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,
    "I will try again tomorrow".


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Southwest Idaho
    Posts
    518
    Quote Originally Posted by northstar View Post
    Anyone else see any wildlife on your way to work?
    Do rednecks count? Lately it has been the occassional red squirrel, a lot of honking Canadian geese overhead and a couple sharp shinned hawks.
    Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.

    2010 Kelson custom/Brooks B17 Imperial
    2009 Masi/Terry Damselfly
    2004 Specialized Dulce Elite/Terry Damselfly
    2003 Gary Fisher Tassajara/unknown saddle
    1987 Bridgestone 100/Terry Liberator X

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    276
    Quote Originally Posted by Regina View Post
    Just suicidal squirrels and surly Canada geese.
    And bunnies, which are very cute and above reproach!
    suicidal ground squirrels here...sometimes I lean over the handles bars and scream "rrrunnnnn" at them.

    I did startle a hawk a couple of weeks ago and it flew off right in front of me. I've seen jackrabbits, cottontails, lots of lizards, road runners, a king snake, bull frog, western painted turtle (probable an abandoned pet) and some coyotes. We also have some really cute gamble's quail. They have a little crown on thier head that wabbles back and forth.

    One of the joys of commuting for me is all the wild life

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Lakewood, Co
    Posts
    1,061

    Deer!

    But we weren't riding our bikes. On the way to Jackson Hole we went to visit a friend in Powell, Wy. 1.5 miles from town a deer jumped in front of my car. We didn't see the deer or feel any jolt from the impact but only saw pieces of my car flying. We stopped and walked back, found the deer on the other side of the road in the ditch. Unfortunately, the deer did not survive. We were ok.

    My Honda CRV is now in Powell, Wy. waiting to be repaired. Most of the damage was to the radiator, bumper, grill and driver's side panel.

    Thrifty gave us a Ford Explorer. Can you believe that it doesn't carry our bikes and luggage as well as my CRV!

    Driving into Yellowstone we saw moose and buffalo. On our bicycle ride yesterday we saw an osprey.

  10. #10
    JmcG's Avatar
    JmcG is offline pb&j today and everyday
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    85
    I see a deer family every morning on my commute by Georgetown on the trail. They're very calm and usually if they move, it's not until you're almost near them. I also see canadian geese, lizards (skinks?), sometimes black snakes in the spring when they're trying to get warm, squirrels, a tortoise once that I stopped for and moved off the trail, blue heron - I think they're my favorite birds - they're so graceful, homeless people sleeping along the trail........

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Posts
    5,316

    urgh

    I often hear frogs along the roe highway bike path and often wonder if it's a person as it sounds similar!

    On the swan river bike path I often see pelicans (don't watch the pelicans, watch the bike path..reminder to self.. ), shags, dolphins, swans & fantails.

    Along Mounts Bay Road I encounter suicidal wild lorikeets, geese and gallahs...
    C

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    48

    Wildlife on Commute...

    Yesterday I saw several salmon leaping in the Sammamish Slough as they made their way upriver to spawn at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Brisbane, QLD, Australia
    Posts
    529
    Glad someone restarted this thread!

    Since it's spring here we're dealing with suicidal noisy miners. >_< BF got hit by two different pairs last friday and he's lucky they didn't end up as spoke decorations!

    Native doves are a real hassle too! They're so involved in their mating dance that they don't see you coming. "ARGH!!!!" usually gets them out of the way.

    But by far the worst - MAGPIES!!!!

    It's their nesting season. We've got one in the neighbours garden. There's another one at the goodwill bridge!!

    There is no other bird that makes you ride faster. You hear this "shwip-shwip-shwip..........shwip-shwip-shwip" and you realise you're under attack! You pedal as hard as you can with your shoulders up around your ears and your head down watching the ground for it's shadow and pedal furiously to get away. I'm even considering ZIP-TIES and EYE STICKERS ON THE BACK OF MY HELMET to stop them from coming close to my neck. I've been done in twice already and they've only been nesting for 2weeks!!!

    @LIGHTSABE*R(::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    Beginner Triathlete Log

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    2,309
    I'm not a commuter- work from home, but I do see a lot of desert critters on all my rides. This morning it was a baby taranutula and a baby lizard. And when I say they were babies.. think the size of a cotton ball!
    But the other day was wildlife central around here. Saw two snakes- almost ran over one! , a big quail family, racing lizards (they race me down the street), a road runner with a small snake in his mouth, and a coyote.
    I was a bit concerned about the coyote as we usually don't see them mid morning unless they are sick..

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Posts
    5,316

    lizards

    Um..what's a racing lizard???

    Also, can you take a pic of a road runner??? Are they dangerous or is that only when Wily Coyote's around?

    C

 

 

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