Owl attack!!!

[d_douglas]

Ok, this counts as the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me on a bike:

My work buddy and I are pedalling home at dusk and are about 6 blocks from our office in a residential area when I feel this weird sensation. I duck and a freaking OWL swoops down and clatters his talons on the top of my buddie's helmet!!!!!!

I scream and Jay swerves and it flys away with no injuries by any party. It all happened in a split second but I saw everything so perfectly.

It was amazing! We stopped and went over to the tree where he was sitting and checked him out and he checked us out too.

Happy New Year! That has to be good karma in some culture ?!?!

[Ken Robb]

Was your pal wearing a Davy Crockett Coonskin-look Helmet? Did a squeaky pedal sound like a mouse? There must be a reason for this attack.

[MattTuck]

Owls are cool :) Definitely good luck.

[thirdgenbird]

I've not experienced that with an owl, but around here, it is normal with red tailed Hawks. Their talons just bounce off a helmet. I would hate to experance it without.

By normal, I'm guessing I, or someone I am with, gets hit about once a season.

[GuyGadois]

It may have been trying to deliver mail to you.

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/harry-potters-owl.jpg

[Cat3roadracer]

That's good luck...in Haiti.

[zmudshark]

Thread drift... A couple of days ago my grand daughter sent a picture of her in an owl hat on a landing at the top of their stairs. She's five. When I talked to her the next day, I told her we have owls outside our home in AZ that call every night. She told me that it is her, she flies to AZ from MI every night to call outside my window.

A tear came to my eye.

[c77barlage]

Crazy. A hawk did this to me this past summer while biking some single track. I was alone so my only proof was talon marks on my helmet.

[thirdgenbird]

Thread drift... A couple of days ago my grand daughter sent a picture of her in an owl hat on a landing at the top of their stairs. She's five. When I talked to her the next day, I told her we have owls outside our home in AZ that call every night. She told me that it is her, she flies to AZ from MI every night to call outside my window.

A tear came to my eye.

It is a late entry, but it could be the best thread drift of 2014.

Crazy. A hawk did this to me this past summer while biking some single track. I was alone so my only proof was talon marks on my helmet.

did you see him coming, seems like they usually swoop in behind. All the sudden you hear the clatter on your helmet.

[juanhenry]

That will teach you to dangle dead mice from your stem.

[tuco]

It was amazing! We stopped and went over to the tree where he was sitting and checked him out and he checked us out too.
Almost certainly a nest in the area. Seems late in the year though.

Knuckled repeatedly over several days leaving campus as a gradual student in the 80s. Late hours at the keypunch (j/k, barely). The university response was cruel. Clearly, the owl had to go. :mad:

[weisan]

Meh...this is a ploy by GoPro to make you kinda wished you have one of these to capture that perfect moment....you know GEICO has that lizard, AFLAC has the duck...GoPro uses the owl.

http://gopro.mentagram.com/images/mounting/601_2.jpg

[c77barlage]

did you see him coming, seems like they usually swoop in behind. All the sudden you hear the clatter on your helmet.

Yep, he came from behind. It felt like I had hit a low hanging tree branch but that section of trail was in a prairie with no trees. I saw him fly away. Cant imagine what an owl would feel like. Like others had said, all the more reason to wear a helmet.

[BumbleBeeDave]

You really think we give a hoot?

(Sorry. Just couldn't resist! :p )

BBD

[11.4]

Needs a dash cam. Now I see what that red rear bike light with an integrated video cam is for.

The explanation is simple. Allan Kim's savory rice cakes. You never know what kind of road kill the OP used for his last batch, and of course the owl goes after them. He just missed with all the reflective trim on the kit.

(Best answer of all time will be the drift about owls and the daughter. We need more of that.)

[Louis]

That's good luck...in Haiti.

Funny. I was just there last week visiting my parents. And no, as far as I know, there aren't any owls in Haiti.

[zmudshark]

Here is the little owl I mentioned in the thread drift:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B40tETACYAAZXLr.jpg

[gomango]

Here is the little owl I mentioned in the thread drift:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B40tETACYAAZXLr.jpg

Adorable.

Can't miss with that one. :)

[Llewellyn]

I got mugged by a Magpie a few years ago - the first I knew was when I noticed a shadow just off to my right hand side, and then there was an almighty thump as it left claw marks in my helmet.

But I love Maggies - they have the most beautiful song :banana:

[Tony]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UU62UcP_BA

[Saxon]

The same thing happened to a friend while he was riding from Berkeley to Sacramento at night. The owl was so tenacious he eventually turned the bike around and took a bus to Sac.

[HenryA]

Thread drift... A couple of days ago my grand daughter sent a picture of her in an owl hat on a landing at the top of their stairs. She's five. When I talked to her the next day, I told her we have owls outside our home in AZ that call every night. She told me that it is her, she flies to AZ from MI every night to call outside my window.

A tear came to my eye.

That is so sweet.
Have a great New Year and I hope you get to see her soon.

[11.4]

How about a turkey vulture attack?

Or the worst, a gaggle of geese attacking on a steep descent?

[Ken Robb]

How about a turkey vulture attack?

Or the worst, a gaggle of geese attacking on a steep descent?

Heck, just the poop from a gaggle of geese can kill you on a steep descent. :)

[nighthawk]

I've actually ridden a short distance with a turkey vulture level with me a few feet to my left and in front of me. I was descending a hill at the time and didn't have time to really consider what it's intentions were. That thing was massive and NASTY! Happy to share the ride with it briefly. Another time I had a coyote come out of the woods and run along side me for a stretch. That might have been one of my best moments on a bike.

Love the owl stories. I too think it is good luck.... But really they are just defending their nesting territory. Not breeding right now, but they can still be territorial outside of nesting seasons.

[ariw]

I was hit by a hawk a few years ago in a customer's parking lot. Felt like being punched in the head, then I noticed blood running down my forehead. Just scratches, but got some updated shots anyways.

-Ari

[mg2ride]

Thread drift... A couple of days ago my grand daughter sent a picture of her in an owl hat on a landing at the top of their stairs. She's five. When I talked to her the next day, I told her we have owls outside our home in AZ that call every night. She told me that it is her, she flies to AZ from MI every night to call outside my window.

A tear came to my eye.


Take her at her word. Maybe you guys are descendants of House Stark? Have you always owned a dog as well?


BTWs
She is adorable!

[TRACK]

you mean this guy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxXSHDdlh_E