Bike Ride Wildlife

Scenes From My Bike

During regular bike rides near dawn I sometimes see unusual wildlife. For example, one morning I rode past this substantial snapping turtle crossing the road.

This fellow, quite a bit larger than my bike helmet, was initially posing nicely with extended head and neck. By the time I dismounted and got my camera ready its grumpy head had withdrawn into the withdrawn position shown in these pictures.

On several mornings, always in the same neighborhood, I pass by this unique deer whose brown and white skin pattern and humped spine are the result of an odd genetic hand dealt to her.

Over the past few years I've noticed swarms of small creatures skittering across the bike path at one location. From my seat on the speeding bike they looked like large beetles, or spiders, but I never stopped to investigate. One recent morning curiosity finally motivated me to dismount and take a closer look. It was quite a surprise to discover hordes of small crabs crossing the trail! The individual I managed to photograph was roughly the size of a quarter and not happy about having his journey interrupted! It presented a face that reminded me of Martian invasion machines in the 2005 War of the Worlds movie.

Fortunately, there were so many crabs I had time to dismount and take a look before they disappeared.

It's usually impossible to remove a phone camera from my biking jersey quickly enough to photograph fleeting glimpses of wildlife. So I've failed to photograph a number of unusual things I've seen over the years. Here are some memorable ones:

• A confrontational standoff between a fox and vulture in a field
• A coyote mother escorting her pup across a road and open field
• Dolphins swimming in the Chickahominy River
• A great blue heron flying low across my path only 2 meters away
• A hawk swooping down to grasp prey less than two meters in front of my bike
• Eagles and ospreys overhead carrying fish in their talons
  
• A group of 8 adult male deer with full antlers feeding on a residential lawn
• Five fully antlered deer (probably from the same group above) bursting from woods and running across the bike path about 10 meters in front of me

Too bad there are no images or video to capture these sightings. At least the enormous snapping turtle above moved slowly enough for me to get a picture!