Deer incident and a ?

[katematt]

location, Monmouth County, NJ 20 miles as the crow flies from NYC.

5 of us were starting our ride last Saturday riding two, one and two in a line. We were just starting so ride casually talking etc about 7:00 AM. I am in front and see out of the corner of my eye a deer dart our of a tree and start sliding across the road, having lost traction, and ran right into the middle solo rider. He went heard over heals. He suffered a concussion, many cuts and whiplash and will recover, but none the less a bad experience for him.

Does anyone know if this time of year brings about this type of deer behavior? I seem to be seeing a lot more of them lately.

[gdw]

Whitetails generally don't start rut, breeding season, until the fall or early winter so the one your group encountered was probably just spooked by all the activity. They also are primarly nocturnal so your ride overlaps the period when they tend to still be active.

[MadeinGermany]

The New Jersey wildlife can add quite a bit of excitement to a morning ride. Hope your friend recovers quickly.

[rwsaunders]

In the Fall when they rut, we call them road lasagna in western PA, as trucks and cars take their toll. They can do a lot of damage and they are tough to spot as they feed at dawn and dusk.

Best of luck to your friend, as hitting a 100-120# object while on a bike can hurt.

[AngryScientist]

i work in that area, and i concur, the deer have been all over the place lately, literally. my morning drives to work on some back roads can be ridiculous lately.

[katematt]

Was the even stranger part. Slid right across the road and t'd right into his non drive side, so yes it started on the other side of the road. I asked him last night if a bunny hop was an option and he said no way....no time.

Thanks for the seasonal rutting info, although we are early for that it is NJ.

[krazygl00]

I woulda got up and gotten that stupid deer in a headlock and just started whalin' on his ass for knocking me over. Stupid deer!

[PaulE]

For some reason, this summer the deer have been up all hours of the day and night in Bergen County, NJ and Rockland County, NY, all similarly close to NYC. Have seen them early morning, mid day, afternoon and evening while on my bike, driving and in my back yard and neighborhood. Have seen big does and little Bambis with white spots on their backs, singles and groups too. Haven't seen any bucks or maybe I did but they don't have their aerobars, I mean antlers, yet. Is that an annual event to grow new ones when Fall comes and they fall off in the Spring?

Hope your friend heals well and soon!

[93legendti]

On my ride today, I had two different deer sightings (in an urban neighborhood). I saw one deer today standing in the middle of the road staring at me and 20 minutes later I saw a doe and a fawn, also just staring at me. I tried to reach for iphone to snap a pic, but I was too slow on the draw.

[CunegoFan]

I saw one today while I was coming out of a canyon. He was standing by the side of the road. I slowed down to glide by him at a speed slow enough to react if it bolted in front of me. Instead he stepped off the side of the road and stared at me as I went past.

[rustychain]

I also was hit by a deer. It was in October mid morning. Broke my wrist and elbow and was cut and brused all over. The scary part is there was nothing I could do to avoid it.

[beungood]

My Hill loop through the Blue Hills Reservation I rode almost right up to one I was parallel on the road we looked at each other as I rolled past. Later in the loop descending I spotted two on opposite sides of the road at a hairpin turn. Thankfully they crossed before I passed them. I see on average 7 -8 deer through there. They have a no hunting rule in there. They have been talking about adding in a bow season..

[vsefiream]

I had a similar experience last week here in western/central NY. Same time frame, off the left of the trail along the Erie Canal. I spooked it and it darted out in front of my as I was approaching. It was a good ten feet in front of me so all was well, other than being a touch nerve racking it was OK. I just assumed it was that time of the morning and I caught him off guard, spooking him.
On average I am more worried about the tons of rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, and chipmunks darting out in front of me while riding.

[Matt-H]

I dug this thread up after a close call on last night's ride. Midway through a steep backroad descent, a deer ran across the road a couple hundred feet below me. Fully realizing there were likely more to cross, I braked a bit to scrub some speed while I watched. Not seeing any, I let it rip again.

Garmin tells me that I had hit 41 mph and was gaining when a deer at about the same spot as the other came right to left. With no time to brake and little road to the right to give any berth, the deer was 15 feet directly in front of me. At my speed, that was way too close for comfort and would've been ugly if we got tangled.

I was most likely pretty foolish for not cruising through that area at a slower speed as an extra precaution...

[gdw]

I almost hit a young coyote last week. His mother was teaching him to hunt prairie dogs and he darted out in front of my bike crossing a path to get to another village. He must have told his father because dad was waiting for me the next evening.

[Bruce K]

Coyotes are really nothing to joke about.

Yesterday IN MASSACHUSETTS, in a suburban neighborhood a coyote ran up and tried to grab a 2 year old girl who was walking beside her stroller in the company of her grandmother.

Fortunately, an alert neighbor saw the attack and called them to her home.

The coyote circled the house several times but ran off as the police were arriving.

So far the coyote has not reappeared.

BK

[gdw]

Those eastern coyotes are tough. Ours just bite obnoxious kids in the ass and run off. :banana:
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_18699437

[achurch]

Random advice:

When you see one, look for the second. Often there are there are 2 or 3 more that cross the road trailing the first. Lots of car accidents with drivers that see the first, think they are clear and hit the second or third. Whenever I see one, I slow way down (in a a car or on a bike) and look for the others.

[gdw]

"When you see one, look for the second. Often there are there are 2 or 3 more that cross the road trailing the first. Lots of car accidents with drivers that see the first, think they are clear and hit the second or third. Whenever I see one, I slow way down (in a a car or on a bike) and look for the others"

and the last one is almost always a mature buck if its a mixed sex herd.