I am in the fortunate position of being able to commute by bicycle most days. Today I was riding on the bike path on my route home, and I came to a tree that was over hanging the path. There are always a bunch of squirrels running around under the tree, and usually they see you coming and run away. Today, one of them froze up when he saw me coming. He dodged left, then right, then stupidly, back left again.
Thump, Thump.
I stopped to check him out, but he was just lying there.
I’m really sorry about that squirrel.
Mundane and pointless, but I still feel bad about it.
We must be on our toes. This could be the beginning of the Great Squirrel Reckoning. The other day, I’m minding my business, sitting around in my living room, when I hear a commotion in the kitchen. It was a squirrel clinging to the screen of my kitchen window. When he saw me, he took off, but the screen was loose. He was coming for me.
Two days later I ran over a squirrel in my car. Not on purpose. I like to think it was the same squirrel from my kitchen window.
We had a dead one in the yard earlier this summer, but it appeared to be natural causes. I’ve never personally killed one.
We have a group of three or four squirrels that scrounge around under our bird feeder. Most times they get along OK but every once in a while one or two will start chasing after one of the other ones.
Sometimes I think it would be fun to set up a video camera and start a “Squirrel Fight!” YouTube channel.
Tatterdemalion, it’s unfortunate but it’s significantly better than if you had swerved violently to avoid the thump thump, lost traction and crashed and injured yourself.
I killed several bunny rabbits in my car. Back in March 2016. Late at night, on a road trip in west Texas, on US-90 near Valentine TX. Dozens and dozens of the cute and stupid critters running across the road when they saw my lights.
This is very true. That’s why I didn’t make any extreme effort to miss it.
But it’s different when you do it on a bicycle. I felt it more than I do with a motor vehicle.
Certainly I am aware that squirrels are not at all endangered, and one dead one just makes room in the ecosystem for another one. I am sure that the next time I ride by that spot there will be just as many squirrels there. And their aggregate intelligence will be very slightly higher.
Mmmm - bicycle small game hunting. I hit a rabbit (on a bike, obviously) a couple of weeks back, but kinda a glancing blow (just caught the side of it as it skittered into and then out of the road). Didn’t stop to check on it, though. My thought at the time was, that was big enough to take me down if it caught it flush.
Squirrels in my yard get shot with a pellet gun. I’ve offed about ten of them in the past few years. I was good with them until they tried to set up residence in my attic.
I have only run over two or three squirrels in my 41 years of driving. I have, however, lost count of how many cats I’ve flattened. Those things seem to have a death wish.
I don’t mind squirrels, although I sure understand why some people do.
Not long ago, I saw a rabbit meet its Maker under the REAR wheels of a pickup truck, so chances are, the driver never knew. Without going into the gory (literally) details, there was no question that the creature died immediately.