[pixelninja]

I was climbing with some friends in Clear Creek Canyon just outside of Golden a couple years back, when a rattlesnake fell off the cliff above us and landed about 10 feet away from one of my friends. It must have been sunning itself near the edge and somehow fell off. I've never heard a grown man scream like that. The cliff was about 150 ft tall, but the snake wasn't dead. Just stunned. Another friend poked it with a stick and it flipped over and started rattling. The first guy then got a long stick and got around behind it and flipped it down the hill. As soon as it landed, it took off.

the only bear encouter I've had, wasn't really an encounter. Me and a friend were driving out off Buffalo Creek when we passed a black bear just sauntering down the side of the road.

 

[Repack]

I was taking my mom around some local fire roads a few years ago when we cam up on a Red Tail Hawk in the process of devouring a Mallard. Pretty darn cool. I watched from about 10 feet away for a while. It was a very neat eater. It would first pluck a section, then go for the good stuff. I have also seen hawks eating squirrels in my back yard. I saw one hawk dive on a squirrel, but the thing got away. I also see Osprey going for fish at some of the local ponds. Not bad for ~10 miles from the sports capital of the world!
2 years ago I saw my first Black Bear at Mt Snow. I was waiting for my bro at eh top off the lift, looking down the slope. I saw a big thing move across the trail, several hindred yards away. It only took a few seconds to realize what it was. It made me happy.

 

[JRB]

I would like to submit Clay's incident in San Antonio -

The oddest thing to happen to me on a bike....
just occurred on a road ride. I was riding along Babcock road, going down a hill at 30mph. Suddenly, a road runner gets flushed out of the ditch on the side of the road. He attempts to fly (like a chicken does), and winds up right in front of my handlebars. Because I am going downhill, traveling at his same speed, he actually gets stuck in my bars. He is flapping his wings uncontrollably trying to get out, and I am freaking out about the fact that there is a chicken-sized bird on my bars. "What the hell is going on here?!?!?!?!" I'm afraid that he might start to peck me to death, and that is not the way I want to die. Luckily he flaps right and goes off to the side unharmed. I look back to see if any approaching cars might have seen the incident. I wanted to talk to somebody just to make sure this surreal event really happened. But alas, there was nobody. Only the road runner and I witnessed this unfortunate crossing of paths.

Think about how random it is that our two paths through space time intersected like that? Does this have bigger implications? This could be a life altering event. My worldview is changing as we speak. Damn roadrunner.

 

[Fathead]

Riding at night in my neighborhood I've seen a coon, a rabbit, and an owl. The owl (or his buddy) I've seen 2x, and I've also heard one up in my chimney while I was in/out of sleep on election night. My night rides suck 'cuz of the skunks. I haven't hit one in the last 20yrs (did hit one on my paper route in junior high), but the suckers still scare me (as in, fear of gettin' sprayed).

On the trails I only see squirrels, snakes, rabbits, and spiders the size of big gulp lids (seriously).

Not riding: 1) fishing in the cold fork of the guadalupe, I had a small perch cut up for bait on a rock on the shore. I reached up to cut off another strip, and a small diamondback went slithering off the rock. If it weren't for the beer, I would have been shaky for hours after that. I know a guy who has a zipper scar all the way up his arm from a rattler-bite, and all I could think of was how far we were from any kind of medical facility.

2) Last week I went out to the truck to go to lunch and there was a toad sitting in the passenger seat.

 

[bigginsis]

i saw my brother the other day...does that count as an encounter with a wild animal? lucky for me, he had a PBR in each hand. i managed to distract him by telling him the guy who killed dale earnhardt was behind him and when he turned, i bolted.

 

[JRB]

Riding at night in my neighborhood I've seen a coon, a rabbit, and an owl. The owl (or his buddy) I've seen 2x, and I've also heard one up in my chimney while I was in/out of sleep on election night. My night rides suck 'cuz of the skunks. I haven't hit one in the last 20yrs (did hit one on my paper route in junior high), but the suckers still scare me (as in, fear of gettin' sprayed).

On the trails I only see squirrels, snakes, rabbits, and spiders the size of big gulp lids (seriously).

Not riding: 1) fishing in the cold fork of the guadalupe, I had a small perch cut up for bait on a rock on the shore. I reached up to cut off another strip, and a small diamondback went slithering off the rock. If it weren't for the beer, I would have been shaky for hours after that. I know a guy who has a zipper scar all the way up his arm from a rattler-bite, and all I could think of was how far we were from any kind of medical facility.

2) Last week I went out to the truck to go to lunch and there was a toad sitting in the passenger seat.

I hate snakes. I hate it more that they have snake catchings around here and those jackasses get bitten and get all the anti-venom that is around. You shouldn't get it if you are screwing around with one and get bitten.

Kaiser from Mojo had an owl in his house once. Funny stuff.

 

[Fathead]

i managed to distract him by telling him the guy who killed dale earnhardt was behind him and when he turned, i bolted.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[Fathead]

I hate snakes. I hate it more that they have snake catchings around here and those jackasses get bitten and get all the anti-venom that is around. You shouldn't get it if you are screwing around with one and get bitten.

Kaiser from Mojo had an owl in his house once. Funny stuff.

It was kinda my fault for leaving bait out on a nice warm rock. I plead temporary innebrianity. I'm just glad he took off.

Oh yah. . . you're in "roundup" country aren't you? I've never been around that, but I have a buddy who used to go out to Freer for theirs. Said the parties were awesome.

Is Kaiser one of 'em Austinites? Sheee-it. . . they'll have to rope off his house as endangered habitat

 

[LeeOz]

Once I had a girlfriend...

 

[T-Pirate]

I have a couple.....

Best one: Me and Brad were riding some little trails the cows made walking to the ponds in a cow pasture. We look right and see the cow herd is pacing us while going pretty fast downhill. Then suddenly they turned toward us. Mad stampedeage. We rode into the woods and hid.

#2: Keystone, CO I hit a chipmunk while doing DH runs. I didn't stop to see if it died though.

 

[monkeyboy424]

ive seen many deer and other critters, but my favorite sighting was ehn i saw this gopher or mole, im not sure what it was. i was walking up this big hill in the presidio (the national park in San Francisco) and this little guy came scammpering across the trail. It had giant buck teeth, and stopped in the middle of the trail and like hissed at me and ZEDMAN. it was just about the funniest thing in the world.

 

[pixelninja]

Me and a friend had to stop and wait on Apex trail for a few elk that were standing across the trail and grazing. They saw us but were in no hurry. They wandered off eventually.

Then there was the time I was at White Ranch. The previous week, a rider had stood down a mtn lion in the same area. As I rounded a bend in the singletrack, I came across a severed deer leg laying next to the trail. I didn't stop.

 

[flatulant_man]

one time i was riding the nebular crater on mars. some pretty extreme downhill up in that neck of the woods. well, i took off this drop and landed on the top of a flying saucer! other aliens taking rock samples for their home planet. They tried to blast me with their ion rays, but i rode over them. left big ol' tire tracks all over their ugly faces.

seriously, my biggest animal encounter isn't even while riding. i was on a raft trip and a big black bear stood up from behind a bush and watched us float by. kind of non-exciting, but pretty cool.

 

[JRB]

Not my favorite, but rode past a big 10 point buck just standing there watching. Rode within 15 ft and he never moved. Saw my little grey fox on the road as I drove in. 2 big jack rabbits. Nice to be out in the wild.

 

[Southbay Bomber]

I'm no Grizzly Adams but I was amazed to see so much right in Silicone Valley. Since Santa Teresa Park was a mile a way from my folks house I've seen tons of things.
1) Deer most plentiful.
2) Turkeys. 24 of em coming out into one clearing. One once ran down a singletrack infront of me as I kept dinging my bell, it finally took flight only to land once again in front of me.
3) pigs at night, and once early morning.
4) gopher snakes, King snakes
5) a shrew
6) a wasp dragging a tarantula that it caught. probably going to lay eggs in it and bury it. yum.
7)coyote
8) bobcats. I came bombing around a blind corner startling one, they can move something fast.
I have yet to see a mountain lion but the first season I started riding I did come up on a dead deer climbing the front side of ST. It was in the middle of the fireroad and a large hole was knawed out the stomach region. Since there was a bit of underbrush for a cat to hide I decided to keep climbing as fast as I could from that point on.
9) a Bear at Downieville. Last year on the 3rd divide climb. I was dying because it was the only ride of the season I did. I was turtling up in granny gear when heard some twigs breaking and looked up the incline. About 30 yards away was a black bear maybe 90-120 lbs.
10) cool looking newts or salamanders in stream (Saratoga Gap)