…and probably broke its back. Now what?
I ask this question because my GF and I were cycling a couple of days ago, and this happened to her. We cycled on, with her in tears, but the very next time we rode she had one of those first aid kits that looks like a CD with her, and when I asked her about it, she told me it was to administer first aid to any small animals she might happen to run over. I stayed quiet.
Has this ever happened to you, and what did/would you do?
Thanks
Quasi
You might advise your GF on the dangers of trying to touch wild animals. If, for example, she ran over another squirrel, the dangers of rabies are far too great to risk touching it. Better to drop a rock on the poor creature and finish it quickly.
No, but a couple times I’ve had squirrels nearly run through my front tires. It scared the hell out of me, because I’d figure they’d jam my wheel and cause me to tumble over the handlebars.
And I don’t think a first aid kit would do much good for a broken back, and she’d probably get bitten and/or scratched if she approached a wounded animal.
Oops, I just realized I made it sound as if you did something wrong by going on and not finishing the animal. I don’t believe that.
If I injured a wild animal that badly, and had opportunity to stop safely and be around the wild animal (traffic issues, etc.), I probably would follow throatshot’s recommendation and try to put it out of its misery as humanely as possible. Animals can become aggressive when injured; I don’t think squirrels are really much of a rabies vector but might carry other diseases transmittable to humans.
In my years of cycling, I have yet to hit an animal that I can remember, so this hasn’t been an issue for me yet.
How did your girlfriend manage to ride over a squirrel? If I did that on my bike, I’d fall off! And if the squirrel was in the road and moving too slowly to get out of the way of a bicycle (this is a pushbike, yes?), then it may well have been ill anyway.
My squirrel jacket is missing a pelt so I guess it would be a good situation for me.
Will somebody please pass the bunny?
I’ve almost run over a squirrel and nearly crashed into a tree avoiding it. Concerned mostly about rodent guts on my tires. Eww.
My best friend works in a National Park and had a car full of tourists come screaming hysterically into the Visitor’s Center, demanding a ranger. They had run over a squirrel, he had to DO SOMETHING. She never finished her story. I extended my left hand, palm up and placed my index and middle fingers in infant CPR positon…AND 1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4!!! I shouted.
She can’t say ‘squirrel’ or I’ll start wildlife CPR.
Since the consensus seems to be saying, ‘Toss a rock on it and put it out of its misery’ (And I agree with that), I’m a bit curious about this- for those that are concerned about squirrel guts on your bikes, is there any real reason to believe that squirrel run over by a bike will explode?
I might actually have to start aiming for 'em if that’s true.
(No, no, no, I’m just kidding)
[cheesey, fake, oriental voice]There is hope for you, Grasshopper.[/cheesey, fake, oriental voice]
Hey, free nuts!
If you really want to see something cool, buy a set of the old spinergy’s (the ones with 4 thick spokes). They’re known to break suddenly. I’m sure the squirrel and you would be SOL if one of those busted at 25 mph. I can’t remember the guys name, but a pro racer had a front wheel break and the spoke sliced his knee deep enough that his femur was poking out. Check out http://home.interlynx.net/~pjdu/ for more stories.
(I realize I added nothing to the OP, but it’s a cycling post so I had to inform everyone about the dangers of Spinergy wheels)
I had a squirrel run into my bike’s wheel once. When I stopped and looked back, the squirrel was writhing on the ground in obvious agony. I thought about trying to put it out of its misery, but I couldn’t bring myself to go over and stomp on it or anything like that. In the end, I just rode on. The next day, I rode past the same spot; it was dead. That’s definitely an experience that I don’t want to repeat 
Related question - what if it wasn’t a wild animal, but a cat or dog with no owner in sight? I haven’t run over any animals, but I did see a kitten lying still on the side of the road the other day. I wanted to stop and see if I could help but there was too much traffic to stop safely (my trike is 3 feet wide) and even if I did stop, what could I have done?