Wildlife while biking

[flatbutt]

I was riding along one of our quieter roads that runs along a creek at the edge of a preserve. Up ahead another cyclist was waving frantically and I thought they needed help. Nope. As I got closer I saw Big Mama and her cubs on the shoulder chowing down on whatever. My brakes worked really well.

[stevej37]

^^^ Yep..give them plenty of space, esp with the cubs there.

We have a growing black bear population here.
Never seen one on the trail, but just this last year I've seen three (all at diff times) crossing the roads around here.

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[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ Hah...you have them also.

Farmers here hate them...during planting season they go right down the row and eat every seed.
Nothing they can do about it .....they are protected birds.

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That's a Great Blue Heron, they eat fish, toads, and other water animals. Herons, Egrets and Eagles are common along the banks and swampy areas along the Mohawk River and old Erie Canal. W/ an occasional Osprey.

These are all carnivores.

[rwest]

Big nature day on today’s 55 mile bike ride. High 60’s temp and mid afternoon.

As usual, I saw a few black squirrels along with the very common grey and red squirrels all frantically getting ready for winter.

I herded 2 garter snakes and one red belly brown snake off of the highway; just hate seeing them smushed. Luckily in MN none of our snakes are poisonous to humans, well apparently, we do have rattle snakes way down south in some river bluffs.

Lots and lots of wooly caterpillars.

Two deer in the road.

Finally what I think might have been an owl flying away from me, didn’t get a good look, but it appeared to have a bigger head than a hawk.

[stevej37]

^^^ 55 miles....not bad!
You had a nicer day than it was here....upper 50's and windy with some rain. So I never got the bike out.
It was windy enough to shake out 4 more wheelbarrows of walnuts.

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[rwest]

Low 60’s and sunny this afternoon and I moved one garter snake out of the trail, although it didn’t really want to go into the weeds right away.

Painted turtle crossing the path, so I escorted it the rest of the way and even pulled a leech off of it’s shell- it was on good and needed more than a light pull. Quick google search and it seems the leeches really aren’t a problem.

3 vultures circling above- I wasn’t going that slow, was I?

[stevej37]

^^^ Sounds like you have had great fall weather for biking...just like here. We had low 70's and sunny the last couple days....but after tomorrow, it might be gone for the season. I rode 18 miles this afternoon.

I lose interest when the temp is in the low 50's. I bring one bike indoors when the cold weather starts and use it on my rollers. (not the same as outdoors...but still good exercise)

[rwest]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ Sounds like you have had great fall weather for biking...just like here. We had low 70's and sunny the last couple days....but after tomorrow, it might be gone for the season. I rode 18 miles this afternoon.

I lose interest when the temp is in the low 50's. I bring one bike indoors when the cold weather starts and use it on my rollers. (not the same as outdoors...but still good exercise)

Hi Steve,

Yes, we’re doing pretty good here, but the next couple will be in the fifties with rain and then I saw a 70 for Friday.

I’ll keep riding until there is ice or snow, but won’t ride longer than my 28 mile total ride down and back on the rail to trail near my house.

Rutager

[rwest]

Nice weather today, so rode 75 miles.

Saw two frogs in the road in a quiet area, so I let them be figuring they would move on quickly.

Lots of wooly caterpillars.

Two red bellied brown snakes that I moved out of the road, both were so tiny roughly the size of earthworms. One was in the road near the fog line and likely would have been run over. I had to pick it up as it didn’t want to move very fast. The other was on a super busy road, but on a wide shoulder, so probably safe, but I herded it into the grass anyways.

Met a golden retriever in the park where I stopped to use the port-a-potty, not wildlife as it had an owner.

[herr_oberst]

Unfortunately not mine, but this is from one of my buddy's recent Mtn Bike adventures.

[stevej37]

^^^. I biked the Colorado River trail out of Glenwood springs a few years back. A small young mountain goat was right next to the trail as I passed. I wanted to stop and watch what it was going to do because I was only about 10ft away from it. But then I thought Mama Goat was probably not far away.... So I kept on pedaling.

[rwest]

I just had to get a ride in this afternoon as I suspect it could be the last day to be able to just wear shorts and a jersey without freezing my butt off.

Slightly above 60F, but a big bright sun warmed it up nicely.

I would have thought all the snakes would have gone wherever they go for the winter, but, nope, saw 3 garter snakes out on the trail; two of them scurried away into the brush after I passed, but one stayed put, so I turned around and herded it into the grass.

[stevej37]

^^^They like the heat from the asphalt. Your temps have been higher than ours.

I biked the Legacy Trail in FL last week with friends....lots of bikers, didn't see much wildlife other than birds. (which I couldn't name)

Trail goes from Sarasota to Venice and is in nice shape. They built huge 'over the highway' bridges for bikers at every major road...must have been costly.
I think it was 36 miles round-trip.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^They like the heat from the asphalt. Your temps have been higher than ours.

I biked the Legacy Trail in FL last week with friends....lots of bikers, didn't see much wildlife other than birds. (which I couldn't name)

Trail goes from Sarasota to Venice and is in nice shape. They built huge 'over the highway' bridges for bikers at every major road...must have been costly.
I think it was 36 miles round-trip.

Nice! My trail is pretty good after about 3 miles, there are very few crossings and none of them are busy.

[rwest]

This just might have been the warmest day we’ll see until spring, but MN weather never amazes me anymore.

I was sore from a gym day yesterday, but I couldn’t pass up low to mid 60’s with warm sunshine, so I did the rail to trail taking the Stillwater fork to the river and then the WI loop back around; about 36 miles.

Saw a red bellied brown snake on the trail in the perfect spot to get run over by bikers, so I turned around and tried to herd him off the trail- he wasn’t excited to leave and took a couple strikes at my shoe- head the size of an pencil eraser, so I just narrowly escaped death this afternoon! Finally got him to slither into the brush.

I don’t believe in handling wildlife unless completely necessary, so I just try and get them to move on their own... now turtles are a different story, just pick them up and carry them low in the direction they where heading- don’t want to be there all day.

[stevej37]

^^^ I was going to bike this afternoon...temp in the mid 50's. The wind came up and it turned cloudy and looked like rain. The weatherman mentioned the S word for this weekend.
So I vacuumed up leaves in my yard instead.

I'm sure there will be another chance here...but it's getting to be less every day.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ I was going to bike this afternoon...temp in the mid 50's. The wind came up and it turned cloudy and looked like rain. The weatherman mentioned the S word for this weekend.
So I vacuumed up leaves in my yard instead.

I'm sure there will be another chance here...but it's getting to be less every day.

I heard up to an inch on Saturday for us too. I haven’t touched my leaves yet, because the neighbors maple is still hanging on. I might tackle some on Friday, but this snow won’t stick around.

Which one of us will report seeing a penguin first!

[jhynesrockmtn]

I was riding in Riverside State Park in Spokane last sunday and saw several mule (I'm assuming) deer including a young buck. I followed him down the trail for quite a ways. This is the last one I saw closer to the river.

[stevej37]

^^^ Looks to be a good size one.
Our bow season for deer has started and every morning I see trucks parked in the fields around my place. Rifle season starts next Saturday.

[stevej37]

Temp was up to 50 today and sunny with hardly any wind....good for biking, finally.
Sweatshirt and long pants was comfortable...did 16 miles.

Only wildlife I saw was plenty of squirrels. Bumper acorn crop is keeping them busy.
Black walnuts are the same...snow predicted for Sunday. Highs in the low 40's for the weekend.