Avoiding animals on the Road

[banditrider]

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

Can relate to that. A mate toasted a possum & flicked bits of it all over me. When I stopped at the next garage there were bits of possum meat all over my jacket & bike!

[99TLS]

It wasn't a ginger cat was it?

twas grey tabby

[dino3310]

dodged a dog once think it was a lab,ended up in a drain did the end over end after hitting the culvert,that was 20 years ago havent hit anything
since(touch wood)

[Tonka]

Went for a ride on Thursday just gone, and was cruising down Pikowai Straights (between Matata and Te Puke - BOP) and saw what looked to be something moving on the road. As I got closer realised it was a bird of sorts (thought it was a Hawke initially) so backed off. It must have heard me approaching then it flew off....which I thought was ok but then ( realised it was a freggin huge duck) started heading back in my direction.... I then started moving towards the center line and the duck turned suddenly and started flying in the same direction I was travelling. My friend following behind me said he could see it all and started laughing his head off!! The bloody duck flew beside me for around 20-30m and it was that close I could have reached across and touched it! It then veered off to the left....perhaps it mistook me as a duck??

[Ocean1]

I'd had my very first brand new store-bought bike, (an XL175) for two whole days. My brother finally managed to talk me into letting him take it for a blat around the block. The neighbour's attack mop/ground hound escaped under their fence and launched itself at the front wheel. Blood, bent forks, smashed headlight etc. Not happy, would have had to take it out on the brother if he hadn't broken his arm.

Have hit some livestock myself, all small beasties though. Did have a strange encounter with a weird late night mass migration of frogs across a country road years ago... bloody slippery little fuckers.

This is a good story about small fuzzy vehicular impediments:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...85&postcount=1

[boomer]

I've hit plenty of small birds

Me too..

but lucky no large ones.

thats also my philosophy!!

[boomer]

perhaps it mistook me as a duck??

A moa perhaps, but not a duck!

[Puddlejumper]

Been hit in the helmet once by a bird, that nearly took me off the road.
In the country, scanning and looking ahead, being aware of your surroundings is your best defence. Checking for hazards and slowing if necessary before encountering them. ( Course unexpected things do happen even so. )
In the city I think the best advice is don't try to avoid it. Cats and dogs are the main culprits here. Dogs will chase motorbikes. Most will angle out and run at your back tyre. if you suddenly brake, swerve etc then it is more likely to misjudge and run into you. Also, sudden swerving, panic braking is more likely to have you off the bike whether you hit it or not. I just keep to my line and speed, try to be ready for a collision if the worst comes to the worst and hope. Have only hit one dog ever, when I started riding. ( killed it, ran over its head ) and that was because it gave me a shit of a fright running out at me, I braked hard and it went under my front wheel. I stayed up but I think I would have missed it if I hadn't braked. BTW, there is nothing worse than the expression on the face of a kid when she sees her dead pet. I wish her family had kept it under better control.

[The Big J]

Well it sounds like we are better at hitting animals, not avoiding them!

I can agree about the dogs, some can be pretty intimidating but I figure the dogs that get too close probably got too close to someone else already. If you keep your head up and keep looking through the corner its not too much opf a problem (I still hate it on gravel though).

Sometimes what you can't predict is frustrating. Said chicken incident happened when chicken ran to right side of road, disappeared from vision and then plunged straight left into the tire.

[dino3310]

hate it when the visors up bee flies in fucken ouch

[Goblin]

hate it when the visors up bee flies in fucken ouch

Or how about having your visor closed and seeing a wasp crawling around the inside??

[scracha]

Had a deer jump out in front of me in Scotland. Bizzarrely enough t was in a very urban area and not the Trossachs (my regular playground....a smidgeon better than the coro loop).

Around here there's lots of cows, sheep, horses and goats to avoid as they have this stupid law that lets fowk put animals on the verges and use teeny wee electric fences to stop them going on the road.

[Dave-]

i tooted at a pack (yes a pack) of chickens on the side of the road on my way out to ruapuna today, they moved pretty quick fast.

[919honda]

Hit a pheasant and smashed a headlight [$210] on the 900 hornet.Also years ago a sheep dog jumped out and had a go at my mates bike, drifted back into my Triumph 6T and bent the brake lever at right angles.

[Mom]

Pukeko's are bastards! I hate them!