critters on the road!

[pixelmonkey]

:x

so last night after finishing class and work i was able to go out for a ride shortly after dark. under the light of the moon and other cars on the highway i see something around 1/8 mile ahead... at first i thought it was an armadillo (sp?) . so i begin to slow down as everyone knows all animals like to cross and re-cross a highway as traffic approaches.

now keep in mind i know the effects of any animal coming under you wheels at speed, as i've been riding for the last 20 years.

i slow down to 40mph in a 65 zone when a truck behind me flashes it's brights and comes around me.

the next sight was a raccoon being sent air born as the truck clipped it.

all in all it was a fun ride for the night, and if you would like to come on down i've got some critter stew on the stove!

kidding about the stew
chris<pixelmonkey>

[indestructibleman]

man, imagine being hit in the face with a mutilated racoon while going down the road.

[moditup]

man, imagine being hit in the face with a mutilated racoon while going down the road.

I did imagine it, about a minute ago, and I'm still laughing at the thought.

[werase643]

last week....
i missed hitting a TURKEY ..... by about two feet from my head

[rcepluch]

As I approached two turkey vultures, feasting in the roadway, they flew away.  However, one did not want to leave his meal far behind and landed on a nearby guardrail.  When I nearly arrived at their dinning spot the turkey vulture on the guardrail decided to fly away, directly across my path.

Well, let me tell you, a turkey vulture in flight, up close, is a big bird!  And they are harder than they look.  We collided at my left hand while I was griping the handlebar.  The force of the collision bent the clutch lever around my hand and it smarted pretty good too.

No real damage was done.  My hand was not really injured, I repaired the clutch lever, and I think the bird flew away. (I drove back and did not see any vulture carcass)

I'm just glad that the bird was not two feet higher.  If it hit me in the head I don't know what would have happened.

[BRB96Z34]

I hit a squirrel last week.  He ran out in the road right as I was coming up to him - went right under the back tire.  Poor bugger, but I couldn't do anything since he ran out right as I was going by.  Felt kinda bad for the little guy...

[johncam4]

a sparrow swooped down and hit my helmet at at least 65....it hit the air vent above my eye brow and left bird goo

[esokitty]

I saw a man on a harley (nohelmet, no leathers) die when a wild tirkey flew out of the woods and into his head.

Not a pretty sight.  Its one of the reasons I wear gear, all the time, every time.

Tho, i'm not sure gear would have helped when a turkey flies out of the side of the road and into the side of your head when you're doing 50..

The risk we take for what we love, I guess.

~erica

[Rema1000]

A guy called "fliptop" on the BeginnerBikers website caught a vulture in the chest while riding through Georgia (on the way to south FL from NYC)... http://www.beginnerbikes.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=rides_bd;action=display;num=1057538451;start=9

...big bird, big bruise.

[Gofer]

Found a (slightly nasty) video online from where a guy hit a deer(he had a camera on his CBR600f4i). Killed the deer, did some damage to the bike. As far as i know, the guy walked away from it because he was wearing leathers and helmet.

Wish i could remember where i found that.