Kwert

My commute changes on a daily basis, but the most common things I'll see are pigeons, raccoons, seagulls and squirrels. I've seen a few deer, blue jays, cardinals... on a particularly long commute I saw a Great Blue Heron, that was pretty neat.

Seizedpost

Just last month on a bike trail I ran over a woodchuck. It sprinted out too fast for me to react. My front wheel went over its back, then my rear wheel. It continued its journey into the woods afterwards, and I saw it a few minutes later on the other side of the same hill. It was probably at least a little bruised up. I was on a cyclocross bike with 28mm slicks so it was a nice concentrated force.

ret3

On a small industrial road, baby possum bumbled out of some brush to my left and began to cross the road. It didn't notice me until it was more or less directly in my path, whereupon it skittered as fast as its wee legs could carry it the rest of the way before bopping its nose on the curb, and falling over. It then righted itself and hustled into the empty detention pond to my right.

rhm

Squirrel
Rabbit
Woodchuck
Muskrat (swimming; looks like a woodchuck to me, but I'm told woodchuck don't go for recreational swimming)
Opossum (usually dead)
Skunk
Raccoon
Fox
Deer

Canada goose
Mallards and occasionally other ducks
Great blue Heron
White Heron
Green Heron
Kingfisher
Turkey
Other birds, too common to note or too distant to identify

Gnats

Frogs (often heard, rarely seen)
Turtles
Snakes (usually dead)

Most of these are unremarkable in their way. A fox dashes across the road just barely illuminated by my headlight, a heron or kingfisher sees me before I see him and I just see him disappearing. It's unusual to get a really good look at anything other than a canada goose or something like that.

Last week my headlight beam fell directly on a skunk crossing the road. Distinctive gait. Bushy tail, brazen nonchalance, definitely a skunk. But it was all white, or at least a light color like a possum. Odd.

zacster

I ran over a pretty large snake that was going across the trail. I left a dent in him, but I wasn't going to do anything about that! On that same trip, about 5 minutes later, I almost hit a large turtle. This happened within the City of New York! Usually I'm just dodging taxis, pedestrians and potholes.

TheLibrarian

Got a new one: baby turtles.

Snake15

I'm surprised at how many prairie dogs I come across on my way to work. Each time I pass where they like to burrow its safe to say about 20-25 pop their heads out of the ground!

B. Carfree

I've had some very long commutes. some of them through timber country. It's a long list: ducks, tree ducks, geese, blue herons, green herons, white egrets, turkeys, turkey vultures, chicken hawks, red tail hawks, bald eagles, spotted owls (famous out here), barred owls, barn owls, burrowing owls, kites, sea gulls, black bears, cougars, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, deer, elk, beavers, dogs, cats, rabbits, hares, turtles, frogs, skunks (downwind of one once, bad night), squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, raccoons, nutria, slugs (ours are big enough to count as wildlife), snakes, pheasant, pea fowl, leaping salmon and drunk teenagers having a roadside party.

okane

Local mup, 4 or 5 riders dismounted. I stop, ahead about 10 yards a nice 5 foot black snake stretched across the trail. Another rider comes up says "I'll take care of this! Our wildlife expert struts up and reaches down to grab the snake. Mr. Black rears up with a nasty hiss! Wildlife expert jumps about 2 feet off the ground and quickly retreats to his ride.

I laughed my xxx off!

Grabbed a long branch from the side of the trail and politely asked Mr. Black to move while I lightly tickle his tail end. Mr. Black grudgingly moves off into the brush and everyone continues their ride.

To this day, everytime I ride past this spot I still laugh at how much air our wildlife expert got when he annoyed Mr. Black.

End of my wildlife story.

Marc40a

Today, a flock (or is it a gaggle?) of turkeys and a Fisher. Unfortunately, the Fisher was a road kill. If you're not familiar, google or better yet go to youtube and type in "Fisher Cat"

I also saw a dead hummingbird on the road once this year.

Other than that, it's the usual suspects: squirrels, deer, a rat, rabbits, turtles, snakes.

***Addendum***

A group of turkeys is called a rafter.

Darth Lefty 

The most common roadkill-critter I remember from my childhood in Phoenix was these guys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammospermophilus (aka Muad'Dib) and the rattlesnakes and hawks that eat them. Quail were also really common carnage. I remember often seeing bobwhites in the suburbs, and roadrunners and jackrabbits and cactus wrens out in the desert. Larger fauna was pretty rare to see but occasional sightings were mule deer, javelina, tortises and coyotes. I recall seeing bobcats and ringtails only a few times and a gila monster only once in 18 years. Once I thought I saw a coatimundi but I was probably mistaken.

When they built Desert Sage elementary school, which my sister went to but was opened too late for me to attend, my Dad kept kidding that it should be Skunk Creek Elementary

locolobo13 

Skunk Creek is a pretty nice MUP now. At least part of it.

Most road kill in Central Phx is cats unfortunately. I've only seen 2 gila monsters in my 59 yrs in AZ myself. Even if you go looking for them they are rare.

Marc40a

Gila monsters?! That's pretty rad. I think I'd lose my mind if I saw one.

Ditto on the coatimundi.

YogaKat

On my local trail I see plenty of squirrels and there is a black cat that is usually crossing around the same place on most days. Also some snakes and fish (if you count seeing them jump up in the lake) all kinds of birds and butterflies of course. One day I happened upon this big old mean snapping turtle. I stopped to take a pic and then tried to move him off the path but he tried to take my toe off so I told him to go snap himself. Sucker was so confident he never even tried to duck into his shell.

bigbenaugust 

I saw coati for the first time on a trail at Foz do Iguacu, Brazil... and freaked out about the "giant brown raccoons".

Whit68

One morning as I was riding through a state park I noticed a Buck standing perpendicular to the path right next to me as I was passing. As I passed the Buck turned and ran next to me for about 20 yards or so then turned away. It was definitely a cool moment. Something you don't experience from a car.

cooker

We've had a rabbit explosion in the last two years. The last time it happened, about 10 years ago, it was followed by lots of fox sightings, and I'm expecting the same any day now.

ItsJustMe

In addition to my previous list, I saw a mink this week, that was a new one. Possum occasionally, of course squirrels and chipmunks all the time.

locolobo13 

Coatimundi are even rarer than Gila Monsters. Like Darth I think I saw one one night but I'm not sure. They're not really scary. Except that first moment of surprise. I have seen them at the Desert Sonoran Museum.

Darth Lefty 

Gila monsters weigh about a pound. They are venomous, but not very good at it. I'd spend more worry on rattlesnakes.

The Wikipedia entry is full of fun facts like this:

[SUP][/SUP]

Shagbark

I have seen plenty of deer, possums, and snakes. Once, despite my best efforts to dodge it, I even ran over a raccoon. We both left the scene relatively unharmed but rather stunned...

YogaKat

I saw some alpacas that I had not noticed before today. I also smelled a skunk. eww

RISKDR1

I often ride by a large alfalfa field. One morning I rode by and there were perhaps 5000 Canada geese in the field. It was quite a sight. We (Chino California) are in the flyway and I see them often but never that many at once. Wonderful sight.

Supermau

I remember a rabbit leaping into my wheel this season too. It was dark and I don't know what became of it. A squirrel did that to me once years ago. You don't see them until they're bouncing off your wheel.

InTheRain

raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, cats, mice, coyotes, snakes, deer, owls, bald eagles.