WATCH OUT For Wood Rats

[nnjhawk02]

So I rode to work today & coming home on a nice Twisty road in North West NJ & there they were da Wood Rats aka Deer.

2 Does - I'm hittin da brakes & horn - but was going about 70 when I saw them.

Their Little Frackin brains do not comprehend the situation - they freeze - then cut across my path - I stayed on course & hit the leg of the slow 1.

Didn't go down - thank God - But scared the Shyt out of me

Drinkin now

[cjgauthier]

       Spring is here in the northeast. Up here in NH the deer have really become active. I had 8 deer run across the road in front of me on sat. at 3 pm. They're not even waiting till dusk to start moving around.

[Boxerdawg]

Glad you are OK and rode away unscathed.  Almost 2 yrs ago the falco and I met one of our forest friends:

Deer are stupid and they do suck

[DrD]

Eat more venison.

[ERR]

Glad to hear you are OK.

Each year I pay a friend to take one for me. One less rat in the woods and a freezer of venison. Everyone but Bambi wins.

Dave

[TJConc]

Guess why my avatar is what it is?  

Now, 2 of them dumb foraging white-tailed quadruped tards are running around with broken legs.
Serves 'em right. Stupid deer. Evolve!  

So I rode to work today & coming home on a nice Twisty road in North West NJ & there they were da Wood Rats aka Deer.

2 Does - I'm hittin da brakes & horn - but was going about 70 when I saw them.

Their Little Frackin brains do not comprehend the situation - they freeze - then cut across my path - I stayed on course & hit the leg of the slow 1.

Didn't go down - thank God - But scared the Shyt out of me

Drinkin now

[stefrrr]

Support a motorcyclist. Get a hunting license.  

[andmoon2]

Guess why my avatar is what it is?  

Now, 2 of them dumb foraging white-tailed quadruped tards are running around with broken legs.
Serves 'em right. Stupid deer. Evolve!  

I told ya I saw a big angry buck w/ a bald spot on his ass.  

[Emerson00]

I've seen and encountered a few deer (live in "rural" Maryland) and I've never understood the attitude towards deer. They're animals, they live in the woods... you should know they're there and ride accordingly. Reminds me of the attitude that brought you the need for a list of endangered and extinct animals "they bug me, kill them."

The attitude just seems irresponsible. I've had one really close call, but even when I was at the most scared/adrenaline-filled/crap my pants moment, I didn't feel any animosity. I felt I was lucky and so was he/she, and perhaps it encouraged me to learn some improved handling/maneuvering skills.

Do you all go back with a bat and a machete and hack up logs in/near the road to woodchips and sawdust, or take hammers to the gravel pieces, too?

I guess I'm strange...  

[Scratch33]

 I've had one really close call,

Get a few dozen more and check back with us.  

[Emerson00]

 

My "really close" call is skittering sideways to a stop and barely keeping the bike up (those butt-puckering almost-down-on-one-side-then-mild-highside-to-almost-down-on-the-other-side... the ones where the next day your back and legs are useless from the adrenaline effort?).

The rest were emergency break-n-swerves and I've had plenty of those.

Even after 100 of them, my basis won't change. It doesn't make it the animal's fault - particularly if speeding in the woods contributed to my difficulty.

[Scratch33]

Oh, I know it's not the deers' fault.  I still don't care for them though, owing to the fact that they're ubiquitous, unpredictable, and capable of getting me seriously injured or killed.  

I hold them in the same regard as cell phone cagers - but then I can't sue a deer for damages.

[Emerson00]

Scratch, with much respect for you...

There's a huge difference between a person choosing to be ignorant and endanger the lives of another, and a creature simply trying to go about life in what nature is left (what nature we allow them).

Perhaps that's why I'm the first to get mad at a stupid cager, but about last to get mad at a deer/raccoon/fox/rabbit/squirrel/opossum/snake...

[Scratch33]

There's a huge difference between a person choosing to be ignorant and endanger the lives of another, and a creature simply trying to go about life in what nature is left (what nature we allow them).

Difference in intent, yes.  Difference in end result?  Not as far as I can see.  

Between deer and cell phone cagers, I don't know which of the two might have a better learning curve.  

[TJConc]

Yes, "all" of us go into the woods with flame-throwers to remind these sub-creatures who the top of the food chain is.  Darwin and all, you know?

Take it easy dood.   It's just the internet. The laughing & smiling emoticons that accompany these messages clealry indicate that we are just having fun/being sarcastic.

It's a helluva day for a ride. Get out there before the rain comes.

TJ

Do you all go back with a bat and a machete and hack up logs in/near the road to woodchips and sawdust, or take hammers to the gravel pieces, too?

[Boxerdawg]

In case you haven't noticed, people on this board like to vent: remember the PO & OT topics?  Deer are as good excuse as any to vent and get that all important post count up.

[DNA]

I love deer!

Grilled, fired, boiled, baked, roasted, even raw.

Any way that they cannot move is perfect.

I really wish we could bring wolves back.

We messed up the natural selection processes - now our bikes and cars have replaced predators.  In another 1000 years the remaining deer will appropriately fear motor vehicles - for now there has not been enough generations of selection.

[BigBen]

Sorry to hear that, but am glade you are ok. Five years ago I took one out on rt17 in New York, near Wurtsboro and broke both of my hands. I almost split the thin in half doing 85mph. Thanks to good riding gear,I had no other injuries.

[stefrrr]

 

My "really close" call is skittering sideways to a stop and barely keeping the bike up (those butt-puckering almost-down-on-one-side-then-mild-highside-to-almost-down-on-the-other-side... the ones where the next day your back and legs are useless from the adrenaline effort?).

The rest were emergency break-n-swerves and I've had plenty of those.

Even after 100 of them, my basis won't change. It doesn't make it the animal's fault - particularly if speeding in the woods contributed to my difficulty.

No, it's definitely not the animals fault. We (humans in general) have fucked up the food chain on this continent, and removed many of the deer's natural predators from their ecosystems. Because of this, deer are reproducing beyond their "natural" numbers. They're unbalancing the ecosystem even more by using the few available resources (again, our fault) that would otherwise be used by other wild animals. Thus, hunting is actually good for the environment.  

That hunting provides food AND helps to keep them off the road where they can kill us makes it a win-win-win.

[squeezer]

(snip)
Thus, hunting is actually good for the environment.  

Seriously.  The forest management folks here in PA are pretty worried about the future of our old growth forests.  The trees we have are reaching the ends of their life cycles.  The way-too-many deer have eaten all the new growth, so there's nothing replacing them.

So, we have the weirdest game commission hearings in this state where it's the eco-folks who are arguing for a longer hunting season to thin out the deer and the hunters (who like easy pickings) arguing to shorten it.

I'm on the eco side.  I like our forests.  Plus, Pennsylvania leads the nation in deer strikes on the road.  I'd like better odds.