Avoiding animals on the Road

[The Big J]

I have been riding a lot lately and am now pretty used to some strange things coming around the corner. The thing that still gives me the shits is animals like birds, rodents, even dogs who need to get out of my way. The problem is, sometimes I pick them up when I can't safely stop. They run out of long grass or are eating road kill around a blind corner etc.

The only thing I have hit is a chicken. It was a strange moment. The chicken lived, lucky bastard seemed to bounce off the front tire.

What have you hit and do you have a strategy for avoiding these? The problem with swerving as I see it is if they run into your path. I generally run a line away from where they are and brake as much as I can. I can't work out a sure-fire option though. Not in NZ but in the States/Canada deer strike seems to kill a lot of riders.

Any other advice or experiences? Anyone hit anything larger than a chicken?

[99TLS]

ran over all sorts of things but the one that sticks in my mind is a cat that ran in front of my bike at night , didnt see it til it was too late and ran over it and felt its back brake under the bike turned around and then went and found its owner , not much i could do but pick up cat and put on roadside

[Trudes]

Puts the shits up me too. They are just so unpredictable, like birds that fly across your path and almost into you at times. Small animals scare me, but its the big ones like cows, sheep and pedestrians that you really have to be concerned with smacking into I think. My motto on the back roads is "expect the unexpected and don't go faster than you can stop". (That's why I'm a nanna)

[bell]

I have been riding a lot lately and am now pretty used to some strange things coming around the corner. The thing that still gives me the shits is animals like birds, rodents, even dogs who need to get out of my way. The problem is, sometimes I pick them up when I can't safely stop. They run out of long grass or are eating road kill around a blind corner etc.

The only thing I have hit is a chicken. It was a strange moment. The chicken lived, lucky bastard seemed to bounce off the front tire.

What have you hit and do you have a strategy for avoiding these? The problem with swerving as I see it is if they run into your path. I generally run a line away from where they are and brake as much as I can. I can't work out a sure-fire option though. Not in NZ but in the States/Canada deer strike seems to kill a lot of riders.

Any other advice or experiences? Anyone hit anything larger than a chicken?

Know thy enemy.

If you can reasonably predict the behaviour of your, er, "target" then you're in a better position to react correctly.

For example, birds flying across your path don't tend to move around like a rabbit or hare might - they generally keep flying on a consistent trajectory.

Kangaroos on the other hand, are extremely unpredictable. That Western Red might be able to do 70km/h for a short burst (alongside your vehicle and then suddenly across in front of you), weigh up to 90kgs and stand up to 2 metres tall.

Deer vs rider. It's quite impressive.

[T.W.R]

Puts the shits up me too. They are just so unpredictable, like birds that fly across your path and almost into you at times. Small animals scare me, but its the big ones like cows, sheep and pedestrians that you really have to be concerned with smacking into I think. My motto on the back roads is "expect the unexpected and don't go faster than you can stop". (That's why I'm a nanna)

Too true

Had close encounters with most smaller animals over the years but the one that sticks out most was a bird strike or more aptly explosion riding along a country road many years ago a magpie flew out through a hedge and across the road at axle height a got diced up by my front wheel, it basically exploded like someone had ripped a pillow apart always remember looking in the mirrors and seeing a cloud of feathers behind me, the mess on the engine block & header pipes was a different story

[banditrider]

Hit: at least 4 birds (feathered variety), also killed a lot of bugs - not sure if that counts...

Extreme close calls: 3 calves (at once), bull (don't think I would have won that one, goolies left dent in tank after ferocious braking/avoiding manouver), sheep, turkeys, hawks.

Other stuff avoided: emu, goats, horse, possums, rabbits/hares, dogs, cats, ducks, wallabys, hedgehogs and all above.

Also, slipped & slid around on possum & hedgie carcasses...

[dogsnbikes]

had a close call with a wood pigeon which looked awesome on the video when replayed

but always encounting stock and sheep on the road

[Unforgiven]

Had plenty of things running around the road while Ive been riding, managed to dodge them though. I did run over a possums tail one night, that was a bit close for me.

[675trippy]

had to ditch my old sporty one day or i was headed for a big mess with a horse not too much damage but sure put the shits up me. the scariest tho was a sheep darting out in front of me while exceeding the sound barrier no reaction time whatsoever thankfully it pulled it's head back at the last moment.

[Goblin]

I've hit plenty of small birds but lucky no large ones. One night i ran over a large possum and with a 16" front wheel it was a case of hang on tight! I've also run over a large hare and a few rabbits. The best one was in town when my sister was on the back. We went past some of my old school mates and I turned around to wave at them just as a big fat black labrador ran out in front of us. We bowled right over top of it and Maria's feet went up to my armpits and all the footpegs folded up and I somehow jammed my finger between the grip and the tank but we stayed on! The dog carried on like nothing had happened. If my sister hadn't been on the back I would have fallen off for sure.

[iwilde]

Check this crazy bastard deer out! Repost police give me a break.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=629_1187712839

[Wiki Drifter]

ran over all sorts of things but the one that sticks in my mind is a cat that ran in front of my bike at night , didnt see it til it was too late and ran over it and felt its back brake under the bike turned around and then went and found its owner , not much i could do but pick up cat and put on roadside

It wasn't a ginger cat was it?

[MD]

"Avoiding animals on the road" - most of us try really hard to avoid pigs

(sorry, I thought this was another cop bashing thread )

[surfchick]

a gazziliion near misses w birds and one strike

scooped a hare up-over the front wheel, smashed into my jacket then up and clunked onto my helmet

was just on-dark coming back down sh16

i'd do almost anything to not hit these critters, but sometimes there's no time...

[Chrislost]

on my CBR400 i nailed a possum.
my friend who wa following me said it did about 5 flips hit the road and ran about 3m then stopped.
all it did was give me a bit of a head shake.