Pratt

This one was about 40 lbs.

livedarklions

That's really too small to be a lethal threat to adult humans, but I'm sure it could bite the hell out of you.

HarborBandS

I'm originally from a small town in Wisconsin where rugged outdoorsmanship was common, and this just sounds crazy to me. I'm dying!

No one else? Really?

Apologies to Pratt, but I just never expected to see this sentence on Bike Forums today.

Fahrenheit531 

BFisher

That is true of the eastern coyote. It is actually a coyote/wolf hybrid. We have them here in NE PA, but I've never seen one. Had a black bear on my patio once though. We have lots of bears here.

rsbob 

I live in the country about 20 miles from Seattle. Just about nightly the local coyote population serenade us, not more than 150 yards away. In 15 years have never seen one in the neighborhood or on the local trail which is rather amazing. Did see one about 1.5 miles from the house up on a mtn bike trail. We were about 300’ apart and he just stood there and checked me out until I left.

I was outside when a momma bear and two cubs walked across our front lawn and my wife saw a cougar about 100 yards from the house. Coyotes can be unbelievably stealthy.

Toespeas

YESS SIR take them very seriously , and ignore anyone that says they are not a threat , they are wild animals they can and will attack , the issue usually is they interbreed with wolves and stray dogs and their puppies dont have that fear of humans , ive been dealing with a pack of 3 to 5 , i carry a 12 in knife and pepper spray every time now , because they caught me slipping once with my knife in my bag , i look back and i got like 5 closing and 2 flanking , CRAZY , been chased almost 6 times , 2 times having to chase them them down into some bushes ,
but thats why i say they are coydogs because i have never seen coyotes chase me , in over 10 years of going out at night , i have never seen this , reported it and the DEM will do nothing , so at some point because i cant shoot them if they continue their ambush tactics , im going to have to take one out , i usually say if you see coyotes then its not normal they are either desperate for food or hybrids , and in your old age i would at least carry some pepper spray or some mace , maybe a flare gun if you live in a city or town that doesn't allow for discharging of firearms , anything that can be deployed with one hand and from an easy to reach position while riding , i wish i could find some diy blank firing impact grenades , that would scare them off real quick , but def watch out , better safe than sorry , could be bears and Mlions too , you never know , we take our civil areas for granted

downtube42

People are the most dangerous critters, particularly the ones in motor vehicles. About a billion times more dangerous than a coyote. If you drive to the start of your ride, the car trip is far more dangerous than any coyote encounter. It's more likely you'll get salmonella poisoning from your after-ride meal than suffer a coyote attack. It's probably more likely you'll get depressed about your ride performance and commit suicide than be attacked by a coyote.

I planned a long solo night ride in the desert in west Texas a few years ago, and my friends warned me about night critters. I carried on. During the ride, my front wheel hit a piece of farm hardware just perfectly so it grabbed hold of the tire, rotated up, collected the fender stay, and folded the fender like an accordion. Finally it squished up against the fork and I came to a very abrupt stop. I had to spend a half-hour alone on a dark empty road in the desert, unfolding the fender enough so the tire would spin. Eventually I got things straightened out, and finished the 200k ride. The danger wasn't critters, the danger was a piece of hardware left lying in the road by some farmer. The odds of hitting that thing just perfectly, as I did, were pretty low, but still better than being attacked by a coyote.

People worry about the wrong things.

Bill in VA

Been there done that!!!

As kids we did a variation. https://www.bikeforums.net/20831053-post116.html

Bill in VA

We have had coyotes and foxes in the Washington, DC Virginia suburbs for years. Not a big deal. They might follow us on a bike ride or a dog walk, but that was usually the kits or pups and mama would call and chase them back to her.

However since the pandemic and lockdowns, all the folks who previously went to their drab existences and lives of quiet anxiety at work, were now home to see all of this. l see lots of chatter on a local social media about it, but what is real foolish is the people who are now feeding them regularly since they are so "cute". The animals are losing their fear of coming to the back door, but are still real wary of people. People have been throwing out chicken bones for the foxes and the bones are carried by the foxes (and raccoons, crows, etc.) all over the place.

All the feeding has had a side effect which is a mini-baby boom of foxes which is exceeding the local prey animals. Additionally some of the coyotes are not pure coyotes, but coy-dogs, a dog/coyote hybrid. Fortunately, all the coyote sightings have been at night by using infrared game cameras, and some have even been caught with Ring doorbells napping on a porch at night. All the foxes and coyotes I have seen have been very healthy with great coats.

livedarklions

livedarklions

I don't know (and neither do you) whether or not the likelihood of violent coyote encounter varies from place to place, we do know that coyote and human habitats are increasingly overlapped, so your probability statements are a bit silly. Wildlife encounters of all kinds are highly likely to occur if you're doing non-urban riding, so what's irrational about trying to sort out what kinds are likely to be threatening and preparing for them? And why is this in conflict with preparing yourself for bike-car encounters, etc.? It would probably be irrational for me to give much thought to a potential coyote encounter, but that's because I live and ride in places where coyotes are pretty rare. OP lives where they're much more common.

BTW, if someone does all of their riding off-road, it would be completely irrational not to "worry" more about drivers than wildlife encounters.

People worry too much about what other people should be worrying about.

JohnnyB65

I have had my share of bad or DUI drivers in motor vehicles and they certainly are a threat at night. I’ve been hit 3 times by cars while biking over my lifetime plus I don’t even remember how many times I’ve been run off the road. Once I was chased on foot a good ½ mile through the woods by a really pissed off driver. I was able to out run him, but my bike was gone when I got back to the road.

Fahrenheit531 

Eventually one must ask the question: Is it them ...or me?

indyfabz

Hello. What’s this thread about? Dangerous critters while cycling?

rsbob 

More afraid of cougars//mtn lions. Woman biking killed 5 miles away summer before last. Most avoid people but... travel in pairs or more.

livedarklions

Definitely, the mountain lion is the bigger threat, but I'm under the impression that if it were to attack you on a bike, it would be on top of you before you even knew it was there. Is that wrong?

rsbob 

Not at all. They typically wil take you down from the back by going for the neck. Probably would only have a couple of seconds of terror before it was over.

capt_velo

A couple of years ago, there were coyotes attacking joggers in Frisco, TX.

Sixth Coyote Attack Reported in Frisco

Just a few weeks ago, I saw one during the day on the opposite side of the DFW airport fence.

That being said, attacks on people are still really rare. If you're moving at a good pace, you probably even have less to worry about.

The best thing you can do is ride with a buddy that you're faster than.

downtube42

I don't get it. One death in 1986, of a 3yo snatched in the suburbs. Lightning kills more people. Hypothermia, heat exhaustion, hitting trees, falling down all kill more people. Pet dogs kill more people. Snake bites, tick bites, flesh eating bacteria. At least as many people - 1 - died of the bubonic plague in the US in that time period.

indyfabz

The last time I rode down the Delaware (2018) from Pt. Jervis, NY I was camping in Worthington State Forest, on the NJ side of the river, across from PA. It's not that far above Delaware Water Gap, PA. As I was riding back to my site after taking a shower when a young cub came up from the river and crossed the campground road maybe 20' ahead of me. It had definitely been born that spring. I was tired and first thought I was seeing the world's largest groundhog. Fully expected to see mom come up the bank behind it, but that did not happen, which made me both sad and nervous. Maybe she was ahead of the cub and I had just missed seeing her. And of course, it was then time to start cooking dinner, which included sauteed garlic and shallot. I kept my head on a swivel.

friday1970

Sadly, they don't chase me anymore.

Vaughan51

I live in the foothills so regularly see coyotes, wolves, bears. They typically don't bother you but that said check with your local wildlife officers to see the population overall health - if they have mange or something then they can get pretty aggressive. Coyotes to take down bigger game like deer typically do that in groups of 4 or more. A single just isn't strong or big enough to do the job.

When I was mountain biking in Big Ben National Park I was worried more about rattle snakes coming out onto the warm asphalt at night and skunks. But then again I have a snake phobia (LOL)

yukiinu

Carry ultra high frequency dog stopper. Coyoties are basically dogs and dogs are repulsed by high frequency repulsers, the sound that they can hear makes dogs stay away. We used them to repulse highly aggressive dogs when we had to enter a non-paying customers backyard to remove the gas meter. Riding by moonlight you need to be careful not to run over an unseen rattlesnake on the asphalt, like I did. CAUTION: Before getting on your bike see how the High frequency generator affects your balance etc, humans generally can't hear the sound but it really bothered a co-worker who had a hangover.

indyfabz

Rattlers will do that. I’ve seen a couple on a trail in PA taking advantage of the afternoon sun that had warmed the surface. One I rode right by without noticing it, then my partner said something. Went back for a look at it was a young one but old enough to have a rattle. Closer to the end of the Mickelson Trail in SD there is a sign warning people to stay on the trail because of rattlers in the grass. I heeded the warning.

Skunks are usually harmless unless threatened. If you’re concerned just move out of its vision range, which is only about 10’. It’s believed to be a possible reason you see so much skunk roadkill.