Welcome to #BikeNite on Friday, March 6th!

[moira@mastodon.murkworks.net]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite A1: HIIII

just the usual place, north of Seattle, in Cascadia

I can't think of any interesting animal encounters, really. I mean, I've seen plenty of animals, particularly the beavers in Bothell and the quails in Kenmore, but nothing I'd call a real _encounter_.

#BikeNite

[lopta@mastodon.social]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite A1) White-tailed deer! I'm quiet enough to get close and high enough to have a good viewpoint. #BikeNite

[vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite

In 2000s I befriended a cat who would wander around a former highway now restricted for most traffic but encouraged for cyclists. She was usually in a garden but would always greet me, and I'd stop and dismount from my bike to spend time with her.

One afternoon I was speaking to my (human) friend Julia on a mobile phone with a hands free kit (with the phone in the pocket of my cycling jacket) and spending time with the cat.

A middle aged woman passing by saw this - it looked like I was having a full scale human conversation with the cat - the woman looked genuinely shocked and walked away *very* quickly

[awesomesheep48@gts.awesomesheep48.ca]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite Posting from Waterloo, Ontario as usual; I've been seeing a few Canada Geese this week with the much warmer weather we've been having.

[genex@sfba.social]

@vfrmedia @ascentale @uxmark @bikenite A1: Hi from San Francisco - this reminds me that the way i adopted my first cat (kitten) was on my paper route I went to get paid at a home I delivered to (on my bike of course) and the family had a litter of kittens and I just took one home and told my family it randomly appeared at our house and my family let us keep her (Molly). I think my dad probably knew the real situation since he was a veterinarian but she lived a nice long life of 19+ years with us. #BikeNite (photo isn't of her but of our current kat, Ginga!)

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@ascentale @bikenite A1. I’m yet again in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where rainy weather has continued over the last week. And I’ll answer my own question:

I’ve had a lot of interesting animal encounters while cycling over the years. Foxes, ospreys, various farm animals, squirrels running across my path…

But here’s one from a couple of years ago. This doe and her fawn were initially on the MUP in front of me, but had gotten away from it when I had approached. I got this photo.

#BikeNite

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@awesomesheep48 @ascentale @bikenite It’ll be gosling season here soon! 🪿️

[peterries@techhub.social]

@ascentale @bikenite

Writing from snowy Denver, Colorado US today.

Just last weekend I rode past this little group of mule deer grazing on a hill side next to my bike path.

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite

A1) posting from Scottsdale, AZ. While this is a good place for biking, I am very ready to move on. Just a few more weeks...

Most memorable encounter was while mountain biking near Whitehorse, Yukon, which has some excellent mountain biking trails. I came around a curve and saw two bear cubs playing near the trail. First thought was "how cute!", followed milliseconds later by "oh shit, where's mom?" Mama bear and another half grown bear reared up from behind some bushes, and I backed slowly and carefully away until I was out of sight. Then I found another way back to town, which unfortunately included a trail (marked on the map as "Mad to the Max") which was well beyond my abilities. I made it down that trail, but very slowly.

#Bikenite

[paul_edwin@mastodon.beer]

A1. From Skipton, Yorkshire, where I've helped @LollaMac get set up for a trade show

I had the privilege of following an owl along a tunnel-like pathway on my commute home earlier this week, that felt pretty special.

#BikeNite #BikeTooter

@ascentale
@uxmark @bikenite

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@wanderinghermit @ascentale @bikenite Yikes!

[jerzone@techhub.social]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite
A1.

Snapping turtles!
#BikeTooter

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@jerzone @ascentale @bikenite Awesome! I’ve encountered a snapping turtle once while cycling, but no photo to show for it ️

[moz@fosstodon.org]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite A1: Sydney, Australia.

The most dramatic was a small kangaroo than bounced along next to me the swerved behind me, clipping the rear pannier. Neither of us was hurt but both surprised.

I used to see quite a lot of wildlife commuting through parks early in the morning, but my current ride is much used by dog walkers and that scares most things. So mostly just sulfur crested bastard birds and the occasional brush turkey.

#BikeNite

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@moz @ascentale @bikenite Wow! ‍️️

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite

I most emphatically did NOT stop to take photos.

#Bikenite

[epu@mastodon.art]

@ascentale @uxmark@mstdn.ca @bikenite #BikeNite

A1. Posting from Alameda, California.

Usual encounters are a couple of turkeys (regularly).

Rarely in the spring, in the dark morning, it's a skunk. Those are funny to watch run, but you have to stop because they run directly away instead of sideways. Then they turn around and threaten with their tail. If you give them enough time, they decide to dash off the path.

[theantlady@arthropod.social]

@ascentale @uxmark @bikenite

A1. Albany, New York, once again!

I accidentally ran over an opossum in the middle of the night in Nebraska once (not sure how it fared). Countless dog chase situations, mostly in Arizona and Texas. Random peacock encounters are the strangest! (once in Texas, once along the Empire State Trail in NY). I'm always too surprised to get a photo.

[uxmark@mstdn.ca]

@theantlady @ascentale @bikenite Ride a bike! Commune with nature! ‍️️

[moira@mastodon.murkworks.net]

@awesomesheep48 @ascentale @uxmark @bikenite Oh yeah, I saw geese in formation in Bothell several days ago, heading east at the exact moment but clearly heading back north overall.

#BikeNite