Squirrel Hater
02-18-15, 03:17 PM
#51
meh
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There is a street in my city that I occasionally use on my bike that seems to have a squirrel lover (or nut job) on it. Seemingly when someone on the street sees a dead squirrel they paint an outline of it on the road and remove the carcass. I've seen these for years and sometimes there are twenty of so of them. I took these pictures a few minutes ago. For the record, I hate squirrels.
02-18-15, 03:37 PM
#52
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i've hit a squirrel on my mtn bike. Rear wheel only, so just one 'bump' and he skittered off into the bushes. I didn't crash.
02-18-15, 04:40 PM
#53
don't try this at home.
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I do a spitting hiss at squirrels and cats by the side of the road. It usually scares them back into the bushes.
And, similar to a velocity's post, I was riding on the Little Miami Trail a few years ago, heard a crack of a branch breaking, and had the branch end with a squirrel hanging on land a few feet to the side of me.
I've seen other photos of squirrels caught in spokes. They can be dangerous.
This made me laugh:
And, similar to a velocity's post, I was riding on the Little Miami Trail a few years ago, heard a crack of a branch breaking, and had the branch end with a squirrel hanging on land a few feet to the side of me.
I've seen other photos of squirrels caught in spokes. They can be dangerous.
This made me laugh:
Last edited by rm -rf; 02-18-15 at 04:44 PM.
02-18-15, 04:43 PM
#54
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02-18-15, 06:15 PM
#55
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In all seriousness, has anyone on here EVER run into a squirrel, especially by simply maintaining your straight path as you see one running around. I would think squirrels are fast enough to get out of the way of a bicycle most of the time, and even if you did run over one, it should cause a crash anymore than some other small bump would. The picture above of the squirrel jumping through the spokes is surely such a rare occurrence as to not be a bother.
No damage to my bike but it was pretty tough on the squirrel.
Sometimes yelling "Squirrel !" gets them to run away but not this time.
At RAGBRAI ([Des Moines] Register's Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), roadkill is appropriately memorialized by dropping a few strings of Mardi Gras beads upon the dear departed. It is a fine tradition.
02-18-15, 09:25 PM
#57
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The squirrels - they're after me! Why? They think I'm nuts!
They take up residence in my roof when it's really cold out. Nasty filthy little tree rats.
They take up residence in my roof when it's really cold out. Nasty filthy little tree rats.
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02-18-15, 10:03 PM
#58
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If you can make a sound that is reasonably similar to a squirrel's chittering alarm call, they will usually run away from you. Pursing your mouth and sucking air in through your teeth can kind of sound like that. It confuses other cyclists, though. And runners. And dogs... Any non-squirrels that hear it, really.
02-18-15, 10:04 PM
#59
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I think the real question we need to ask ourselves here is if squirrel vs. bike encounters are more of a danger with clipless pedals or platform pedals.
02-19-15, 03:35 AM
#61
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Doing rides on a rabbit-infested road (and I mean, on a 20 km round trip, I could count twenty on march, forty on april and seventy on june) like I did in A'dam can be extremely adrenalin-burst-inducing. I sometimes thought of hitting one and cooking it afterwards, but then, for some reason I envisioned myself as the injured one so I didn't dare.
02-19-15, 01:26 PM
#62
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Maybe I should have called this tread Squirrel Hitter instead?
V
V
02-19-15, 06:34 PM
#64
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In all seriousness, has anyone on here EVER run into a squirrel, especially by simply maintaining your straight path as you see one running around. I would think squirrels are fast enough to get out of the way of a bicycle most of the time, and even if you did run over one, it should cause a crash anymore than some other small bump would. The picture above of the squirrel jumping through the spokes is surely such a rare occurrence as to not be a bother.
02-19-15, 06:51 PM
#65
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The thing that I've seen is they can't make up their mind and zigzag around until the last second so their quickness doesn't help them -- it actually works against them. Although the time that I had the squirrel run inside my wheel I was going fairly slowly and it just ran straight at me. And that bike has 32 spoke wheels, so not low spoke count. Thought for sure I was going to have to pull a dead squirrel out of my wheel, but the only thing left behind were a few tufts of hair.
02-20-15, 12:34 PM
#66
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They are well trained and organized. We found a vidy of one of their trainings be afraid be very afraid!
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153105751844602&pnref=story
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153105751844602&pnref=story
02-20-15, 02:56 PM
#67
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I'd rather not hurt a squirrel either, but they're squirrelly. By definition. However, I have seen enough pictures of wrecked cyclists that I definitely worry about me when I see a squirrel running around on the road.
02-20-15, 03:44 PM
#68
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One of those evil little varmints is climbing a tree right outside my window as I type this. Every now and then he pauses to shake his tail. I don't know what that means, but I assume he's up to no good.
02-20-15, 04:02 PM
#69
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The deer are the really worrisome ones, they are big (compared to squirrels) and the suburban deer have no fear. I've biked up on them, talking and ringing my bell and they hardly take notice. I've passed within 10 feet of them... WAY TOO CLOSE, not a good choice on my part!
02-20-15, 04:08 PM
#70
GATC
Squirrels are nowhere near as sinister as penguins
02-20-15, 04:18 PM
#71
Banned
In another thread someone asked about building a 24 spoke wheel , this thread made me think about sharpening the edges of your flat bladed spokes .
so it will slice thru a squirrel as Easily as the Guillotines of the French Revolution decapitated .
so it will slice thru a squirrel as Easily as the Guillotines of the French Revolution decapitated .
02-20-15, 04:18 PM
#72
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I haven't watched Wallace and Gromit is ages! But to avoid digressing, I doubt Penguins or Elephants are going to wreak havoc in Minnesota ... Unless I detour through the zoo.
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02-20-15, 05:08 PM
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02-20-15, 11:29 PM
#75
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I saw bunnies tracks in the fresh snow this morning. 
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FB4K - Every October we wrench on donated bikes. Every December, a few thousand kids get bikes for Christmas. For many, it is their first bike, ever. Every bike, new and used, was donated, built, cleaned and repaired. Check us out on FaceBook: FB4K.
Disclaimer: 99% of what I know about cycling I learned on BF. That would make, ummm, 1% experience. And a lot of posts.