livedarklions

Last Saturday morning, I was riding on the Nashua River Rail Trail on a solo century round trip from Nashua to Worcester. It was a bit foggy, so visibility wasn't great. I could see there was some sort of largish critter on the path about a quarter mile ahead of me, and it was approximately skunk shaped so I slowed way down. As I got closer, it turned out to be the largest groundhog I'd ever seen. Since I'm no longer concerned with getting sprayed, I continued on in its direction, but slowly to make sure it didn't get under my wheel, and I said something to it figuring it might scamper off the path (I didn't yell, kind of used my "good doggy" voice). Much to my surprise, it didn't head off in the other direction, but actually turned towards me, made some sort of growly hiss noise, and "charged" at me. Having never been charged by a groundhog, I was not aware of what a slow approach this would be--they are apparently slightly faster than a turtle, but there was no mistaking the change in direction was aimed at "getting" me. I easily avoided hitting it, and then proceeded to crack up laughing--it was almost exactly as I would imagine what being attacked by a rug with teeth would be like.

Anyone else ever been the "victim" of a preposterous wild animal attack? No dog stories please, I've had enough of those threads.

Oh, BTW, I mentioned Worcester because it's really cool riding down Major Taylor Blvd. Otherwise a pretty bad biking city, but I enjoyed Maury's Deli..

indyfabz

I got stared at by a black bear that looked at be at least 500 lbs. I was leaving camp just before dawn in McKean County, PA. He was about 30' away from me. Walked out from between two dumpsters he had recently raided. We looked at each other for about 15 seconds, then I started to back away. Big wuss ambled off in a different direction. What a disappointment. I was expecting him to get all The Revenant on me, or something.

Interestingly, this all took place at a campground abutting F.C.I. McKean, the medium security facility where actor Wesley Snipes did his two years for tax evasion. Former MLB player Denny McLean was also a guest there at one point. IIRC, he got into some sort of financial trouble and committed mail and/or wire fraud.

livedarklions

That's great! Your story is almost precisely the opposite of mine--you get a timid 500 pound bear, I get a ferocious 17 pound groundhog.

Slightspeed

Last weekend I got charged by a Daddy Canada Goose. I was on a bike path and came up on Mom Goose and three little ones on the left, Dad in the middle, and just enough room to squeeze by on the right, with a rocky 45° slope to the water on the right. I slowed down and tried to coast by, when the Daddy Goose charged me, wings out mouth (beak?) open, right at my left leg. I didn't realize how wide their mouth can open - looked like Jaws with feathers! I just got by, and then it went after my riding partner, Mike. We both survived, but every time Mike tells the story Daddy Goose gets bigger and more ferocious. We need to build a wall to keep them in Canada where they belong!😉

indyfabz

If you didn't see chicks they or the nest was probably close by. Saw my first chicks of the year two weekends ago. They can be VERY nasty when defending them. Several years ago a pair made a nest in the low foliage outside my NJ office. They would sometimes attack people coming to work. One day our head of HR had to blocks pecks with his briefcase. The building manager finally got rid of the low foliage. Problem solved.

JohnDThompson 

I got chased by a pair of Sand Hill cranes. These birds stand about a meter tall and have about a meter and a half wing span. They came at me honking and flapping their wings aggressively. I suspect I must have been close to a nest or their chicks or something.

jbell_64

Don't let it fool you, groundhogs can move pretty quickly over short distances. I had one charge during a ride on a rural road once.

woodcraft

Not an attack, but I came across a large snake stretched out straight across the road, at dusk.

Not wanting it to get run over, I stopped & approached. Nudged it with my toe & it awoke with a start!

It had been fast asleep & was not happy but got off the road.



Another time I was charged by a coyote- also at dusk.

I think it was young & it was a half-hearted attack,

but it was enough to make my ankle very nervous.

jon c. 

Last year I had a raccoon run alongside sort of barking as if he were a dog.

livedarklions

This one couldn't, I suspect judging by her size she was pregnant. This definitely was an attack and not a feint, she just wasn't fast enough to get real close.

eja_ bottecchia

I was riding, alone, around the local backcountry, when I came upon a vulture protectively guarding some road kill. At first I thought nothing of it. I often come across crows dining on road kill and they just let me pass.

As I approached the dining site, the vulture took off and I thought this was the end of the encounter.

I was wrong.

All of the sudden the vulture dive-bombed me, getting close enough that I could smell its foul breath.

It made a close pass at me, climbed and then dive-bombed me a second time.

I am not normally frightened by wildlife (unless it is a mountain lion). But this was a certifiable pucker-up moment.

Man that is one big bird.

Thankfully for me its only apparent intent was to frighten me away from its meal...which I was gladly to oblige.

wipekitty

I seem to have bad luck with flying things. Once I was truckin' through the MUP around dusk with a trailer full of crap from the Home Depot and a bat clocked me in the chest. Fortunately, no bites, so no rabies shot. I also got clocked by a bird on a local descent (fortunately, not that fast.)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I tend to attract cats on my rides. In a few cases I've stopped places out in the country, and random barn cats have appeared. I tell myself that it's because I ride a lot in the late evening, not because I'm a crazy cat person!

livedarklions

Maybe the cats are attracted because your bike smells like bird and bat.

CliffordK

The big question is whether the thing saw it's shadow.

canklecat

This thing. Good sized crawfish in the middle of the MUP. Fortunately my friend and I had just eaten so I moved the mudbug off the trail and closer to the river.
Grumpy mudbug, last month.

Brad L 

Turkeys. It was just before Thanksgiving, so I thought they may have been making a run for it.

Jno

I know this story is outside the scope of the OP’s request but I ask for some latitude: I was walking my 80 lb hunting dog (She looks, but isn’t, menacing; we don’t hunt). She was just doing her thing, wandering and sniffing, and she got attacked by a momma deer. The deer reared up on her back legs and tried to stave in the dog’s ribs with her front legs. My dog was stunned and just ambled off, basically unharmed, but that was the mildest animal that I’ve seen attack.

Dan Burkhart 

Last year, I was riding on a rural road following a friend when I saw him get dive bombed by a redwing blackbird. The bird veered off, and I was having a good laugh, when suddenly, I felt a sharp rap on my helmet. He got me too. did not see him coming.
We have lots of coyotes around here, and I have had several close encounters, none of them threatening. One time, I was riding up a residential street when I saw a coyote up ahead about to cross the street. After he crossed in front of me, he stopped on the curb, turned and watched me ride by. It was almost like he was looking at my bike and thinking, I want one of those.

livedarklions

I wasn't attacked, but I had a funny encounter with a flock of wild turkeys last year. They came out of the woods onto a busy multi-lane state road with about a 45 mph speed limit, and the big tom at the head of the line started leading them across the breakdown lane about 1/4 mile ahead of me. I didn't fancy riding through this flock so I just started yelling any scary noise I could think up. Whatever I did worked amazingly well. The tom did a 180 and the flock all ran back into the woods. They wouldn't have done well on that road.

bikemig 

I had a duck take me down once when riding a bike. The thing must have been in tall grass next to the MUP. It spooked and flew right into my rear wheel. It took me down hard. My front wheel was bent up and I had to take the duck feathers out of my rear derailleur before I could get it working again. I was pretty mad actually, lol.

bakerjw

July 13th 2018, myself, my son and a coworker were 70 miles into the day climbing Cabin Pass in British Columbia. It had been a dry, dusty and very windy day. As we were about at the crest of the pass, the wind was gusting pretty well. Our coworker, Jeff, was ahead of me by about 10 feet with my son to my right. All of the sudden, a full grown mountain lion jumped up out of a large clump of grass about 10 feet ahead of Jeff.
That was a true WTF moment. To surprise a big cat like that was something to see. Made the trip worth it.

livedarklions

Definitely wouldn't qualify as "least scary", but great experience to ride away from. Some don't.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...shington-state

freeranger

Some 25-30 years ago, my wife and I were riding along the C&O Canal trail. Some kind of very small snake decided to try to chase her, It would raise it's head up occasionally on her drive side, near the pedal, but was too small to reach. It eventually gave up. Still get a laugh out of it. Not an attack, but was cool, was also along the C&O Canal trail, where there was still some water in the canal, we had a crane (maybe it was a heron?) ride over the canal, right across from us on the trail, for around a mile or so.

indyfabz

Start of Dobson Pass in Idaho. Why did the turkeys cross the road?

t_e_r_r_y

riding the burke gilman in seattle, i once had a squirrel run out and pace my front wheel. i knew what he was up to and i kept yelling "don't do it!" but he went and tried jumping through my wheel anyway. twice. luckily both times he was deflected off the spokes and not sucked into them. i stopped as fast as i could, and so did he - he just stood and stared at me for a second, even after i yelled "what are you doing?!" at him. finally went into the bushes.

around that time a woman came jogging around the corner and gave me a strange look, probably wondering who i was yelling at.