Seen Any Animals Lately?

[Rogue]

Here, just north of L.A. I see bobcats, fox, and deer. No mountain lions yet. How about you? Do your animals often stop and look at you? They do here.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Besides the usual critters, I've seen a bear, golden eagles and bald eagles.

The bear was running along the trail at a good clip then bounded up the hillside like a deer. I was amazed at how fast and graceful he was.

 

[Danman]

I've seen deer, turkey, quail, rabbits, a few rattle snakes, and even a badger. I saw a rattle snake about to eat a rabbit. I reved that bike up and then the rabbit took off and got away. The snake turned toward me. I showed him what me back tire looked like pretty quick. I was a good ways away from him(about 10 or 12 feet). I see cows alot, they don't count. I also have seen a very large bull. Its a good thing I don't ride a honda with matching gear :eek: . I would have hate to seen a bull at a full charge. I've also riden on a private ranch with a large heard of Buffalo. That was cool to see.

 

[JuliusPleaser]

I saw A Flock of Seagulls once...

Deer and turkeys are a common sight here in the South. Lots of snakes and lizards, too. The weirdest thing I've seen is an armadillo.

I HEARD a big cat once. It scared the B-Jesus out of us, and we didn't waste any time getting out of there. Have you ever had the hair stand up on the back of your neck? I never understood what that meant 'til we heard that shriek. :eek:

 

[yzeater]

I run into probably 20 deer in 30 minutes of riding. I've done an endo several times to stop from crushing a turtle's shell. I've also just about killed a mouse, rabbit and an ATV;)

 

[KevinB4stk]

If I'm the first one in our group I always see lots of spiders, especioly this time of year. We saw a ground hawg a couple of weeks ago also deer, turkeys, turtles, frogs. A guy about 1.5 miles west of my house used to have 3 BIG cats, sometimes at night they would start to MEOW!!, sent chills up my spine.

Kevin

 

[SpeedyManiac]

I've seen mountain goat with kid, black bear, grouse, deer, bald eagles, hawks, rabbits, porcupine, squirrel, chipmunk and various other critters when out riding. The mountain goat was interesting because I didn't see it until I was about five feet away from it, I got close enough to touch them.

 

[cr125_king]

Last year when out riding we were riding down this mountain trail, when to our surprise there was one huge bull standing in the middle of the road. He was stubbern and wouldn't move. This thing was massive. He was kicking his legs and getting ready to charge us. We just kept revving our bikes up, and roosting him, which just pissed him(bull) off more. Finally after a few minutes he moved to one side of the road, and we each booted it past him one person at a time. That was scary, but we all made it past him. This year we were building trails, when my friend heard something big russling around in the bushes. We think it was a bear, but who knows it could've been a couger. I tell you that was the fastest i've ever ran though. We got too far away from our bikes and had to run a km to get back to them, plus we got lost while running back trying to find our bikes in the forest. That aint fun running in MX boots when you got to get the hell out of an area. I hope to see a Grizzly bear one day here because there is lots in this area.:)

 

[IDkTm]

In a typical ride for me I see elk, deer, and all sorts of small game like rabbits, grouse, etc. I saw my first cougar while I was riding as it ran across the road right in front of me. Seeing animals is a part of all my rides and something I look forward to.

 

[KiwiBird]

I've seen lots of deer, a couple of bears, a few coyotes and foxes and loads of rabbits.

My most memorable one was when my ex and I got out to the desert earlier than everyone else and we were sitting round a camp fire on a totally moonless night with heavy cloud cover - very dark. We heard a noise in the darkness, so being a manly man, I thought I'd go see so I grabbed a big stick and my flashlight and wandered off towards the sound.

As soon as I cleared the light from the fire I knew I was out of my element. Like Julius Pleaser I know what it means to have the hair on your neck stand up and a feeling of fight or flee. I immediately got back to the van and inside and didn't come out. Most likely a big cat, probably a bobcat but possibly a mountain lion - either way nothing I wanted to meet on his terms.

 

[CO Dan]

deer, elk & antelope are pretty common here...

oddly, I find they don't run nearly as far when I'm on a bike (maybe 2-300 feet) versus on foot, where they'll run 1/4 mile.

No mountain lions, thank god!

 

[reynome]

Last year a guy hit a deer that wondered onto our mx track. He got hurt pretty bad, was in mid air when it happened! The deer died. This was up at Berthod (VDR) for any of you locals here in denver area.

Up at Walden we were riding last fall and a family of moose were on the trail. They were huge! Then last night I saw part of a cow's a$$ on my plate. :confused:

 

[TexKDX]

Last August in Cloudcroft NM we had a group of 14 people riding, including 5 women riding two-up with their mates. One of our fast riders riding solo was about a half mile ahead of the group. He it a deer, killing it. Even though he was in extreme pain, he jumped up and dragged the deer off into the woods before the women got there to see the dead Bambi!!

 

[fremontguy]

Jackrabbits are my favorite critters to ride with. Up at Georgetown I see them on fire roads and they just run right in front of me. Sure are fast.

 

[shawn sharp]

TexKDX,

...He it a deer, killing it.

Your boy musta have been pretty sore. I've seen what they can do to cars! Did you eat it? :)

 

[Gary B.]

Here in Wisconsin, I see lots of deer, snakes, oppossum, racoon, bald eagles, and turkey. I glimpsed a bear once about ten yards off to my right and my ten-year-old son was only about fifty yards behind me on the trail. Also had the "stubborn bull experience" about eight years ago. Just idled up slowly in first gear 'til he finally got the hint and started moving, albeit slowly, and found a way off the trail. Seeing any kind of wildlife is just one of the highlights of any trail ride for me.:)

 

[woodchuck]

mainly deer

I had a cute little spotted bambi deer rub his sholder on my front fork tube, it suprised me and as well as itself. It was scared and had decided to run the same way as the trail was leading. (Or maybe it just wanted an upclose look at a GasGas, I'm not sure:D )

No other real close encounters of the fur covered kind.

WoodChuck

 

[KWJams]

Up in Griz' country--

Montana , I found a pile of droppings with steam still rising from it. :eek:

That was closer than I wanted to be!

 

[cyclers10]

i see a lot of deer and turkeys , the deer check you out, the turkeys high tail it outa there real fast, and the usual other little critters, my 2 cents , bye c10

 

[BSWIFT]

Skunks! Opposum on the half-shell, bobcat, deer, coyote, fox, and have heard the big cats. A friend has seen bears in far NE OK.

 

[stickman]

Just yesterday I was training on my mountain bike up behind my house(I live out in the sticks) , came around a corner and there were three bobcats playing in the trail!! Looked like moma and two large kittens. pretty neat!

stickman
Oregon

 

[fatty_k]

I once chased 2 baby calfs down a trail for like 3km! Their sooo stupid!

If you pull the clutch in and coast up to them and get really close but as soon as you're bike revs a bit they take off super fast. They try to run faster than their little legs can handel and almost trip themselves. Its pretty amusing to watch:p

 

[Danman]

Our lease is on a working cattle ranch. We can get kicked out for harassing the cows. I just knock into first and putt on buy. If they start to run they can hurt themselves causing the land owner loss of money. They are realy dumb, though. They just think that I'm some loud animal what looks funny. I hate it when they start run with the trail. I saw a coyote and had an encounter of the slithery kind last weekend. It was a big ol rattle snake. The guy in front of me said that it struck at him as he as comming around a corner. He was stopped and pointed it out. I just saw it slithering away with it head up. Thankfully it did not continue in the direction of the trail. It went in the other direction.