rnorris

-Mama bear and 2 cubs were trying out the local MUP one night. I thought they were some new artsy sculptures until Mama said "WHUFF?" and stood up on her hind legs to look at me, as did the cubs. I had both my fixed and flashing headlights going, and the way their eyes strobed back at me from quite close was more than mildly unsettling. Fortunately all 3 of them turned and ran into the brush.

-Also plenty of jackrabbits, coyotes, hawks, and a tarantula. I see so many deer that I don't even count them.

-This doesn't really count, but I had a solo pronghorn antelope follow me for about a mile once when I was trail running in the open prairie in eastern Oregon. He kept a respectful distance, but was obviously curious as to what the hell I was. They're normally very shy animals so it was a real surprise.

Notgrownup

A Milamor bird one time.

Rhodabike

Most of the wildlife I've seen this summer has been roadkill. How pathetic is that?

rekmeyata

I first heard what sounded like a jet aircraft coming over a lake, when I looked to see the jet it was a Pedigree Falcon in a full wings tucked dive and the noise was the ruffling of the feathers! That guy was going fast. Then at the last moment he spread his wings out and grabbed a fish out of the lake and took off. That is the one animal that if I had to chose to live to be any animal it would be that bird...because I love to fish but I can't catch them worth a darn! and I like to go fast and I like flying.

TiBikeGuy

Some friendly boars came out of the jungle... They are protected in the nature reserve, so they are not afraid of humans

TiBikeGuy

Sleeping python ... twice the length of the bike..after taking a few pictures, my friend asked me if it is dead, I touched it and it reared its head up, looked at me and slithered over the bike and into the bushes. This picture was taken at 2.30 am under the highway where the trains used to run. When they moved the train station to another location further north, much of the old train tracks is left unused, great for mountain biking although it is rather flat.

cyccommute 

While most people go for large wildlife, I like to find the little ones like this cricket frog on the Katy Trail



Or this freshly hatched horned lizard on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.




Or this wandering tarantula in the canyonlands south of La Junta, CO



I've also see the western collared lizard (don't have a picture but it's like this one) around Grand Junction. Truly bizarre animals given that they are blue and might as well have a neon "Eat Me!" sign when they are standing on red sandstone.

I have also seen a ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) in southern Colorado. These are truly strange animals as they are bright orange with black spots. I thought the one I saw was a toy until I touched it and it moved. I reacted like I would with a rattlesnake...i.e. I jumped into the air and didn't come down until I knew where the damn thing was going

Jed19

A rattlesnake trying to cross (very slowly) from one side to the other of a one-way road in a nature park. I got of my bike and played traffic cop until it safely crossed.

Little Darwin

I was once riding through a hilly area in California and as I was approaching a corner during a climb had a red tail hawk fly up the slop right in front of me. It was beautiful!

On a ride earlier this year in Pennsylvania, I got lost near a small, small town called Slate Run, and decided to see if I could get directions. It is a vacation community, but I saw one home with 2 or 3 cars parked out front and left my bike at the road as I walked down the driveway (probably 50 yards to the house). As I got about half way, I noticed some unusual looking shrubbery in front of the house, and as I continued walking, I tried to figure out what it was. Shortly, I saw two black balls of fur that ran from the brush to the shrubbery to a wooded area to my left. I realized that I had just seen my first bears in the wild... cubs... and just as I realized that where there are cubs, there is usually a mother bear, so I stopped. Then I saw momma run out of the shrubbery. However, she wasn't heading to the wooded area, she was headed toward me. She got about 15-20 yards from me, stopped, slapped her front paws on the ground with a thud, crouched and growled at me. I walked backwards slowly, watching her at least as closely as she was watching me... the driveway was curved, and eventually she was out of view, and I turned and quickly got to my bike to look for a different place to ask for directions.

So, in short, I got to see three bears!!!

smellincoffee

I've seen a deer trapped in a ditch before, and last week two deer shot out of the woods in front of me on a morning ride because some sirens on the highway through the woods had scared them into a run. It's not every day you nearly get T-boned by a deer on a bicycle!

one_beatnik

It's common in rural Iowa to see deer, possums, hawks, foxes, coyotes and turkeys. Having said that, a couple years ago at 0-dark 30 AM, I was riding a local trail heading to work when I saw what I thought was a cat in my headlight. No, it wasn't moving like a cat. SKUNK! No that wasn't it either. It turned out to be a possum, but what was cool was that she had her babies on her back. I'd seen pictures of that, but never the real thing. She growled and hissed at me as I went past.

Billy Bones

Long ago, as a young cat, I commuted across the back lanes in rural West Virginia to my job. One morning...in the fog...I encountered a wild GODDESS. She was standing in her glass picture-window dressed only in the Gifts That the Gods Gave Her. We smiled; I saluted.

TiBikeGuy

Video of a race in Africa where the mountainbiker was hit by a antelope. Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa got taken out by a RED HARTEBEES at the Time Freight Express MTB race at Albert Falls Dam. Check out this crazy footage which was taken by team mate Travis Walker on his GoPro Camera

one_beatnik

Game over!! We have a winner!!

ka0use

do llamas count? these weren't wild, but they were exotic. llama farm (ranch?) east of boulder. thought they were really cool.

aRoudy1

bruin11

I saw a Zebra on a ride in Vermont a couple of weeks ago.