Sad day ...

[janusz]

This was my first ride of 2016, great weather, quite warmth temperatures and I decided to take my Vespa out for a ride.

Last December I put deposit on the Moto Guzzi bike and finally managed to get all cash needed to paid off for the bike of my dreams. So i rode to my dealer, handled them my bank draft and agreed to pick the bike in the first week of May. On the way back home I decided to take extra spin around the town and this sad accident happened. I run over the squirrel, it run at front of my bike and I hit it with front wheel.

This accident somehow took all the joy from having a new bike. SAD DAY !!!!

[Toystoretom]

I know it's not the same, but I have several squirrels you can have. And a chip monk. And a ground hog. And some moles.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

That happens. I get upset whenever I hit a critter.

[John A]

Think of it as good for the species. If the ones that are unable to navigate today's traffic are sadly killed off, the ones that survive will pass on better genes for survival of their offspring . So you did them a hard favor. Congrats on the new bike!

[Nic in Western NYS]

Those squirrels evolved to use zig zagging fake-outs to throw off pursuers. It really doesn't help matters when you just want them to get out of the way.  Sorry about the accident.  The worst I had was hitting the last duckling crossing behind the momma duck crossing the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. Still remember it 35 years later.

[HardAspie]

Squirrel; fluffy tailed rat with good PR.

[oldbike54]

 Call me sensitive , but yeah , running over a critter bothers me also .

 Dusty

[fotoguzzi]

a couple weeks ago my dog was off leash at the park, she flushed a bunny and killed it right in the street, in front of a school bus full of kids..
I got mad because she didn't halt when I yelled and ran into the street. 
lucky for Pink you were not around on your Vespa..

[twowings]

I can appreciate your concern, BUT they are just rats with furry tails!   

[oldbike54]

I can appreciate your concern, BUT they are just rats with furry tails!   

 Well , we are but hairless apes ...

 Dusty

[n3303j]

Squirrels are nuts and suicidal.
They run helter skelter at your front wheel.
I can do a good squirrel DANGER! call.
It sends them running in a straight line away from me.
Watch squirrels.
Learn the call.
Use it

[oldbike54]

I grew up chopping the heads off chickens and drawing straws as to who got to shoot the hog each year. Squirrels gofers and other critters plus  crows were the enemy..shoot on sight. Think where your T bone comes from and how it got there..

Sorry no sympathy.

m

 Yeah yeah , spent lots of time on a farm also , although I've never seen a crow or a gopher attack a T-bone .

 Dusty

[Sasquatch Jim]

  If it made you sad, how do you think the squirrel felt about it.  Or his wife and kids.
 They won't even get an insurance settlement.

[Moto]

I'm sorry this spoiled what should have been a great day.

I'm sure I've become too insensitive over time. But I still regret the last bird that was killed hitting my bike. You're lucky to still care, I'd say. Just make sure to enjoy your ride tomorrow!

Moto

[ITSec]

Some creatures we raise or take advantage of with an intent to make use of them - whether as workers or as food. They end their days as we plan, and usually at our hands, with purpose. Purpose makes this all have meaning.

Some creatures we do not raise, or we raise solely for our enjoyment. These creatures end their days (hopefully) through some natural action, be it time or predation. We may be sad, but we can appreciate them. There is meaning in the life of a good dog, the company of a cat, or the appreciation of the wildlife around us.

It's quite reasonable to be downhearted when a creature's life is ended before it must be, particularly through inadvertent action or error of ours or of their own. Some meaning has been lost, or will never be attained, and that is a fair cause for some regret.

And yes, I have had to shoot my own dog. No vets for 150 miles or more, and I still remember the look.

[krglorioso]

I've done in a white tail doe in 1989 and a fawn in 1995.  Neither caused me to dismount or any injury other than brief anxiety.  These things happen.  Better the fauna than the rider.

Ralph

[Huzo]

Think of it as good for the species. If the ones that are unable to navigate today's traffic are sadly killed off, the ones that survive will pass on better genes for survival of their offspring . So you did them a hard favor. Congrats on the new bike!

We have a Darwinian in our midst!

[charlie b]

We used to love the little things, and chipmunks.

Then the wife's car wouldn't start one morning.  Squirrel had eaten some wiring.  Few months later she started it, heard a thump, and all the warning lights came on.  Chipmunk was on the alternator when it started.  Serpentine belt killed him and in the process the belt was wedged off the pulley.  Last year the packrats decided to make a nest in the engine compartment of my truck.

So, I do not like the little furry things.  Traps (kill type), pellet gun and poison are a weekly thing for me around here (we live in the country).

[lucian]

When I was in my teens I worked summers at a local golf course and would sometimes commute on my 125 Suzuki challenger through the woods and across a couple fields. One day we got out early as it started pouring rain so I saddled up and rode like a bat out of hell to get home before I got too soaked. I was straddling the tree line next to a field when I noticed a grey squirrel heading across the grass towards me, I thought , what are the odds? sure enough that little bastard went right for my front wheel, ended up washing out the front on him and the wet grass and did a low side slide into a big pine tree, bike hit first then I hit the bike, back to into the handle bars. Some how the squirrel survived and limped off, i suffered a broken clutch lever, bent bars and a broken wrist. Then later that night I went to have a pee and it was bright red, not good,off to the ER with a ruptured kidney. Not much sympathy for squirrels ever since. They're cute but deadly on a bike. feed em lead.

[oldbike54]

 Lucian , sounds to me like you should be angry at wet grass and the rain god 

 Dusty

[Zoom Zoom]

Janusz, sorry it ruined your day. On the bright side, you didn't crash! NEVER put your life, or others in danger to avoid hitting an animal. If you are able to safely do so, that is another story.

Anyway, after a very long day on the road, (10 hours), the low beam burned out so I had to run with the high beam. Not so bad on the Interstate, but when I hit the State Route everybody and their brother was flashing their high beams. As if that was not bad enough, a racoon ran out of a swampy area a few miles from home and I caught him with both wheels. Glad I didn't go down. Didn't even bother unloading the bike or even putting it in the garage. Just got off it and went inside.

Back to your squirrel. Around here, they are terribly overpopulated as the natural predators are less and less. Be glad it was not a deer. (They are in excess here as well.)

Hopefully Bullwinkle can find another sidekick.

John Henry

[swordds]

Everything that lives, dies. Most die a terrible and frightening death. Quick is the best that anything or anyone can hope for. It was a better way to go than being eaten by a bear.

[acogoff]

     One good thing, the squirrels family won't file a law suit against you, but the next time I would keep it on the down low as the animal rights crazys are getting more power each day and have lawyers. Unfortunately that is what things are coming to.

[oldbike54]

 Let's not politicize this folks , thanks .

 Dusty

[tpeever]

This was my first ride of 2016, great weather, quite warmth temperatures and I decided to take my Vespa out for a ride.

Last December I put deposit on the Moto Guzzi bike and finally managed to get all cash needed to paid off for the bike of my dreams. So i rode to my dealer, handled them my bank draft and agreed to pick the bike in the first week of May. On the way back home I decided to take extra spin around the town and this sad accident happened. I run over the squirrel, it run at front of my bike and I hit it with front wheel.

This accident somehow took all the joy from having a new bike. SAD DAY !!!!

Sorry to hear about that, hitting anything on the road is never fun even if it isn't an endangered species. Just curious though, was it one of those gray or black squirrels that you have in Ontario? I remember a friend from Cuba who had lived in the US a long time but then found herself in Toronto one day and was amazed that squirrels came in colors other than red/brown!!

[John A]

Now that there is some good eatin. Gotta be hungry though

[oldbike54]

Now that there is some good eatin. Gotta be hungry though

 Kinda like chewing on a rubber ball 

 Dusty

[keener]

While riding my bike i had a gopher run out on the road  do a stand up and line himself up with my front wheel.
I moved the bike over so i would miss him and then he in turn followed suit and again lined himself up with my front wheel..i ran him over dead center ...It was his day to die..
On the other hand.. some time later ..at speed 70mph i had a gopher run across the road and make it through between the wheels of my bike  and out the other side...it was not his day to die
Timing is everything...Such is Life

[Moto]

When I was in my teens I worked summers at a local golf course and would sometimes commute on my 125 Suzuki challenger through the woods and across a couple fields. One day we got out early as it started pouring rain so I saddled up and rode like a bat out of hell to get home before I got too soaked. I was straddling the tree line next to a field when I noticed a grey squirrel heading across the grass towards me, I thought , what are the odds? sure enough that little bastard went right for my front wheel, ended up washing out the front on him and the wet grass and did a low side slide into a big pine tree, bike hit first then I hit the bike, back to into the handle bars. Some how the squirrel survived and limped off, i suffered a broken clutch lever, bent bars and a broken wrist. Then later that night I went to have a pee and it was bright red, not good,off to the ER with a ruptured kidney. Not much sympathy for squirrels ever since. They're cute but deadly on a bike. feed em lead.

Wow. In my youth i ran over two dogs and a human being (not all at once) without so much as a scratch (on me). You need to work on your technique! 

Moto

[oldbike54]

Actually if done right its not bad, and you can make a hat out of the hide!

:-)

 Always been afraid to wear one of those hats , worried it might make me act stranger than is already normal 

 Dusty