crazy critter day

[the Ferret]

31 degrees when I took off this morning but the sun wa shining and it was forecast to be a beautiful day. I had to ride early since the first race of the MotoGP season would be on early this afternoon. Hadn't gone 200 yards when I spot a big black blob in the middle of the road ahead. At first I thought it was a pedestrian but it didn't look right. What the heck is that?

Turns out it was a big tom turkey strutting in the middle of the road. He folded up and exited stage right as I approached.

later on about 3/4 of the way thru my ride I pull into a gas station. I pull up to a pump and look over at the next pump and there is a young girl, I imagine in her early 20's sitting in her car playing with her phone while it is filling up. She's wearing a head to toe Giraffe patterned one piece outfit, complete with the little horns on top of her head. She has a cat in her lap, and her seat cushions are zebra striped. Really? Pretty soon the pump kicks off and she gets out to hang it up and close her gas lid. Her outfit looks even worse when she is standing up outside the car lol. Maybe she's headed to a costume party early on a Sunday morning. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

Later on I'm following an older couple going 30 in a 55 on one of my favorite curvy roads. Frustrating. But then a herd of deer decide to cross the road 100 yards in front of them. They slam on their brakes as the first 2 of 5 deer make it across. The other 3 deer stop. I can see the old woman in the car waving her hand/arm signalling for the remaining deer to go ahead and cross (like the deer knew what she was meaning lol). Instead the deer turned and headed back into the woods, and the car eventually continued on at it's agonizingly slow pace braking for every little bend in the road. This only went on for 4 miles before they turned off on a side road, and I was able to wick up the pace and continue on.

Beautiful day for a ride, but turns out an unusual one lol

 

[pdedse]

That is one healthy bird! It's cool to know they are still out there. Here in Oregon I've seen a mountain lion leap across the hiway in--stunningly graceful...and in Costa Rica an ant-eater ambled across the road in front of me one night...not so graceful...but determined.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Funny stuff. Welcome to the world of weird and wonderful!

 

[redbirds_imp]

Love that Giraffe outfit, LOL. Had a bobcat run down the middle of the road to my front a few days ago. Ran a good 50 yards before leaping into my neighbors property.

 

[Retsel_imp]

Better slow driving elderly, in a car, encounter the deer first rather than a speeding motorcycle! They may have saved you a lot of pain?

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

 

[clearviewx]

Better slow driving elderly, in a car, encounter the deer first rather than a speeding motorcycle! They may have saved you a lot of pain?

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

Well said.

 

[flynrider]

That is one healthy bird! It's cool to know they are still out there. Here in Oregon I've seen a mountain lion leap across the hiway in--stunningly graceful...and in Costa Rica an ant-eater ambled across the road in front of me one night...not so graceful...but determined.

Costa Rican road critters are a lot more interesting than what we get up here. Last time I was down there I dodged a 5 ft. iguana, a howler monkey and an ocelot. It was like driving through a zoo.

 

[DAC]

Wow, Ferret. A wild turkey, a giraffe and a pair of slots encountered in one ride. A banner day!

 

[emptysea]

No green alligators or long-necked geese?

 

[DAC]

Sorry, meant to say “sloths”

 

[Nortoon_imp]

Deer, wild turkeys, turtles, suicidal chipmunks and red squirrels are almost routine on my back road rides. The two most interesting animals I have encountered were a black bear and a young moose. The moose ambled away a safe distance from me, but the black bear ran across the highway right in front of me.

No accidents or deaths except for one persistent suicidal chipmunk who passed safely in front me as I slowed down, then turned around and ran under my front tire.

 

[Cormanus]

Sorry, meant to say “sloths”

I was wondering what a slot was.

 

[Mscb1100_imp]

I don’t know how to post a YouTube video here, but if you go to YouTube and type Arkansas rabbit doesn’t like crow there are 3 clips I filmed last week.

 

[Roper_imp]

I saw plenty of flat armadillos by the roadsides when I lived in TX.

 

[tuareg]

So this is an example of what we have to deal with on German roads




The warning reads, crossing frogs, either drive slowly or take another road! Can you imagine the stress we're under?

Joking aside, when I was crossing the Dolomites last autumn, at night, a deer appeared out of nowhere(or so it seemed) two feet away. My wife was so scared by this I had to pull over for a while to calm her down.

 

[Nortoon_imp]

So this is an example of what we have to deal with on German roads




The warning reads, crossing frogs, either drive slowly or take another road! Can you imagine the stress we're under?

Joking aside, when I was crossing the Dolomites last autumn, at night, a deer appeared out of nowhere(or so it seemed) two feet away. My wife was so scared by this I had to pull over for a while to calm her down.

I stop for turtles. Tuck them in my tank bag, and drop them off at the next stream, creek, swamp, or lake.

In the spring I find small green frogs in the window wells of our home in the morning. They come from the large settlement pond on the golf course on the next street. I know there is a blue heron there at the pond, so I transport the frogs to the Jock River about 5 minutes from my door. They remain still in the clear plastic raspberry container while I am walking until we approach the river. Then all heck breaks loose.

 

[Cormanus]

Where I used to live—in the hinterland north of Brisbane—we had a good many green tree frogs. They are very beautiful, but have been driven away a bit by the ubiquitous cane toad. The cane toad's march across Australia is one of the great tales of unintended consequence. But it's for another day.

The green tree frog is a great climber and often gets onto roofs to take up residence in down pipes because they're wet. If they can get inside, they'll also live happily in toilets. We had one that used to lurk at the top of the bowl and you'd see his little foot pop out to brace himself against the might of the flush. I'd take him outside from time to time but he'd be back. One night someone sat on the loo and felt something clamp on to their backside. They got a terrible fright. Guess who?

 

[suhawk305]

That’s hilarious Cormanus! I can only imagine getting up in the middle of the night to .... and looking down at a set of bulging golden eyes staring back at you!:rofl:

 

[Mandrau_imp]

Can’t resist. Reminds me of a time I was riding a beautiful dusk highway heading south from Timmins in Northern Ontario when two moose emerged from the ditch to my right heading single file across the road wth merely a gap between them. With my rear wheel in a skid I somehow managed to thread the eye of the needle and zip right between them. I could have smacked the rump of one and the big nose of the other had my hands not been etched into my grips. My friend was right behind me and he barely missed the rump of the second moose. Never want to repeat that again.

 

[use2b_imp]

that is a fine looking Tom but so tough you have to boil of pressure cook them before roasting
critters just do what they want