obstructions lite

I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

In article
,
Dan O wrote:

I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

This is one of the neat things about riding a bike.

--
That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo.

On Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:05:28 -0700 (PDT), Dan O
wrote:


I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

Dear Dan,

Not having a camera saves you the embarrassment of staring for a while
and then captioning a photo "not a deer lying in the shade":
http://i46.tinypic.com/taftqc.jpg

It's just a juniper stump.

This obstruction was also not a deer:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2vwzsxk.jpg

Nor was this:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2qiwnc9.jpg

But it waded slowly enough for me to find the movie button:
http://tinypic.com/r/2cmt2f9/6

Not a deer, either, and looking suspiciously photo-shopped:
http://i46.tinypic.com/55kpwm.jpg

But it was just in the shade beyond a sunny fence:
http://i45.tinypic.com/14ne4qe.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

"Dan O" wrote in message
...

I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

Probably old news to you, but it wasn't to my son- if you see one deer (or
other animal) running across the road in front of you, don't assume the
danger's past. Last week my son and I were riding around the Nevada City
area, and the very large doe comes flying, and I mean FLYING off the
hillside and across the road, maybe 30 meters ahead of my son. I yelled at
him to slow down, as he thought the danger had passed and just kept flying
down the hill. Moments later a large dog comes charging down the hillside
and nearly t-bones my son.

Must have been a trained hunting dog, because there was no barking. How
often do you see a dog chase an animal and not bark? I've never owned
hunting dogs (Corgis herd things but don't hunt), but I'm assuming that
you'd want your dog not to be announcing its presence to the potential prey.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

On Jun 26, 12:01*pm, Tim McNamara wrote:
In article
,
*Dan O wrote:

I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: *A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. *Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

This is one of the neat things about riding a bike.

I just about hit a big deer with my car a couple of hours ago on Mt.
Hood. Like Dan said, it is now summer in the PNW -- it's like someone
flipped a switch. All the cyclists are out, except me because we
decided to go hiking today. This is where we were, except the meadow
was still covered with snow. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismarkes/2872198000/
There is still a ton of snow on the mountain, which has my son
thrilled because he is about to go off to summer ski camp.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28061667@N08/4369819030/ -- Jay Beattie.

Dan O wrote:
I don't have a camera, so this is rather lame, but summer is here and
the wild critters are really coming out: A couple of days ago two
young deer bounded in sync along the left side of the road as I
cruised along on the right. Yesterday morning a raccoon waddled
toward me head on before running for the brush, and yesterday
afternoon a snake was slithering elegantly across the warm road such
that I might have had to dodge him, until he sped up as a car
approached from way behind me (I guess he must feel the vibration in
the road and know it's time to boogie).

I think the increase in wildlife around here (Boston) has to do with the
decline of hunting and declines in pollution. I'm only 8 miles from
downtown, in a pretty urban neighborhood (mostly multi-unit, very small
yards) and for the first time ever found a deer in my (completely)
fenced yard (in broad daylight, no less). Raccoons, skunks, woodchucks
and possums were always common, but lately I've spotted fox and coyote
on my street. Flocks of wild turkeys have reached nuisance (to some)
levels. The real topper was a moose that wandered into our area a few
years ago. Great blue herons have become a common sight overhead, and,
from my window, I've watched northern harriers and red tail hawks eat
kills. While biking, I saw a red tail take a squirrel in a downtown park
(not far from a sky scraper where peregrines nest yearly), and seals
have returned to Boston harbor.

Both the Charles River and Boston harbor have been cleaned up
significantly, the changes to urban quality of life have been remarkable.