What if I hit a squirrel?

If I hit a squirrel, will I go down and die?
And will the squirrel live or not :cry:
I know what happens when you hit a opposum at night. Broke my collarbone that way and trashed the bike. Was going 70 when I hit it.

 

You should be fine. The squirrel will not fare as well; I've clobbered a few plus a bunny or two and never crashed.

I hit a half a cement block that was laying in the road one night in the fog on my SR500 at about 60 and DIDN'T fall down, but the front wheel was wrecked.

Must have been a robust possum.

 

I think the opposum I hit was a bodybuilder on steriods or related to the Terminator. I came close today to squashing Rocky the squirrel on my ride. The other night, it was a close call with a deer. Whew 8O

 

Deer whistles. I was going to install the simple "mechanical" kind (wind powered) but then someone posted about this: http://www.xp3hornet.com/ and I think this is the route I'm gonna go.

 

try to get as straight as possible before impact, tighten up on the bars and hold a steady throttle, no brakes no gas
if you have time shift your weight off the front wheel
don't try to swerve to miss it
i guess the humane thing to do would be go back and stomp it's head, but thats optional

 

i was taught to lean back, and get off your seat about 3 inches, and then when you're about to hit it, try and pull a wheelie, you wont of course but you'll take weight off the front wheel

 

i was taught the same thing when ur gunna hit a bump sit up a few inches

 

I don't believe those deer whistles work. I know a guy that runs a body shop, and he says he has worked on many cars that have hit a deer with these things on it. The problem is not that the Deer hears you comming. The problem is that "when" the deer hears you comming, it stops dead in its tracks and looks at you. It has no idea how fast you are heading towards it, it just sees lights getting bigger. When you get close enough that it moves, it makes a decision to run one way or the other, if the way it runs is infront of your car/bike, you are screwed. I have only hit one deer, but I have

Maybe this Hornet thing is different, but I don't think there is any way to really measure if it works or not. IMO the best defence is a good head light, and a good head under the helmet.

 

The air-operated deer whistles DO work, I have them on my cage and the deer definitely react differently, and they tend to run the OTHER WAY. The problem is that they require about 40mph to make any noise.

I like the Hornet simply because it isn't airflow-dependent. I haven't tested one yet but I plan to buy one shortly and will post results.

Where I live you NEED something; the County next to mine has the highest ratio of deer-car accidents in the state.

 

It's not the squirrel you should worry about. It's the moose that is following it.

 

...the squirrel sues for hit and run?

 

Yeah I ran over a rather large dead raccoon that at the top of a blind hill, and survived by doing the seat trick. I did have to pull over and relax for a minute after. I coulda been doomed!

 

I started a dimilar post a few months back and somene suggested the passive style deer whistle dealy. Another suggested (and I'm serious!) that the best way to avoid hitting a deer is to find a Harley rider to ride point. How about mounting the deer whistle to the helmet of the Harley rider and putting him in front on point!

Do you ever feel sorry for all the crap Harley riders get thrown at them? Nah! I guess not

 

[quote="How about mounting the deer whistle to the helmet of the Harley rider and putting him in front on point!]

That won't work, Fitz said you have to be going above 40.

 

I just about cut a dog in half with my Seca, so I wouldn't worry too much about a measly little squirrel. There'd be a small "thump" and you'd keep going like it never was there. Not to worry...unless it's on a curve and your leaned over pretty far, then you may lose traction. In that case, your screwed.

 

Squrills are Daring nasty rodents . they congegate on the curbs and they bet each other nutz that they can dodge a car , truck or motorcycle. they then sit until you are just about there and dart in front of you . they don't know is that I will hit the clutch and rev the engine like was going toCrush his little head under my wheels. most freak out and run back to his buddies in shame no doubt paying them with his nutz

 

I think we need to discuss what kind of Squirrel we are talking about here. Is it the nice little brown squirrels they have out here in Kansas or is the the HUGE black squirrels I grew up with in Indiana?

 

Ugh. I found one of the big ones here in Lafayette last year. Nowhere near making me crash, but scared me bad enough I pulled over to check if I needed clean shorts.

 

Those things are black for a reason. They are pure EVIL!

 

never got a squirrel... coon yes... funny story... my sister came to pick me up one night in my mom's car (LOL) because I was a little too toasted... and the biggest flubbin possum you ever did see ran out in front of the car and she dodged it by centering the tires on the car over him... she bumped the scalp of him... oh yeah by the way, she worked at a vet too... so she was balling, and I looked back and you could see this thing wobbling around. she started balling about how it was still alive and suffering... so I said turn around and go back... she did. So I got out the car and the thing was hissing and bleeding and growling and stumbling around. So I pulled out my .380 and shot it... it took a whole clip just to kill it.... those things are CRAZY!

 

Mount it on the valve stem. Its going in a circle, but it would reach 40mph <chuckle>

Ad far as the squirrel goes - don't react! Just keep going. If you swerve, that's when you are in trouble.

 

Great story, eanf. I nearly LMAO. Ribs are hurtin'...

 

you kids and your fancy toys :lol: ...is strapping a double barrel to your handle bars loaded with rocksalt not good enough anymore?? :twisted:

S!

 

i hope you learned a lesson here....never leave the house without your Desert Eagle 50cal 8O 8O one shot..all done :twisted: ...of course they are hard to get in the glove box and do make the car lean to one side :lol: :lol:

S!

 

I aint messing with any coons, especially hurt ones. I'll let it go suffer in a hidey hole some where.

When I was a kid, we lived on a farm for a while and the coons loved the hayloft for some reason - they made their home up their in the hay bales. We had traps set to catch the critters. One morning there was one up in the loft, hissing and spitting, caught by the leg. My brother took his .22 and put several rounds *IN THE HEAD* from close range and the thing just kept going. The man who actually worked the farm was with him and finally grabbed a shovel to use like an axe to beat the thing to death. It wasn't quick, it wasn't clean, it wasn't pretty.

Damn thing just didn't want to die.

 

Well, depending on how well you are equiped, if you hit a squirel, you could have:

A) Dinner

B) A nice detail for the kids helmet

C) Start of a patchwork fur coat... This one here is from Hwy 55 just a little south of Eagan, the durn thing tried to sneak across the road. This one here is from down around lake Pepin....

That is why I never leave the house without a sharp knife.
You never know where your next meal is coming from...

 

One of my college friends had a T-shirt that said: I eat roadkill and it had a cartoon of some small animal that had been run over ...

 

You guys have some serious time on your hands... go ride your bikes or something

 

Can't.
Five min of sun, 15 min rain, 5 min gray and windy, 10 min rain, ... grrrr.

 

I can't either.

I have some squirel in the oven.

 

Squirls here in the city are nothing but sewer rats that climb trees. You could tell me they taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never eat the ..........


You get the idea.

 

Its raining, i am missing a pod, there WD40 on both rotors, there is liquid gas coming back out of the inlet on the left carb and the power of the bike scared me a little....so im going to stay home for now

S!

 

:roll: