Attacked by a bird of prey whilst on my bike....



Steverobb1973

New Member
Jul 11, 2010
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Hi all, thought I'd join up today just to share a pretty bizarre experience with you all and ask if anything similar had ever happened to others....

I was just attacked by a bird of prey (a sparrow hawk I think)....

Riding through a tree lined road in the country (In angus in Scotland) whan I felt a fairly substantial knock/impact on the back of my helmet. I looked back expecting to see a segull or similar, I was astonished and petrified to see it was in fact a bird of prey - about 3ft wingspan. It was following me and intermittently swooping down at me. I was weaving about all over the place to try and avoid it (thank god no oncoming cars). It only did get me the once but chased me for a good 500m or so. I ended up taking cover in a garage at the side of the road for 15 minutes before setting off again.

Never saw it again and after the ride I called a local wildlife sanctuary who suggested that it was probably a adult sparrow hawk who was protecting her fledlings who typicall nest in hedgerows at the side of the road.

Certainly got me to increase my pace for a bit, and I havent looked behind me so much on a ride evr before. Totally petrified me!!:eek:

Has anyone else ever had this happen to them?

If it happens again, whats the best course of action to take? Outrunning it is NOT an option:)

Thanks

Steve
 
Nothing like that, but it is common here in Australia to get swooped by magpies at certain times of the year. They can be quite dangerous, but there no where neer the size of the bird you described
 
Steverobb1973 said:
Never saw it again and after the ride I called a local wildlife sanctuary who suggested that it was probably a adult sparrow hawk who was protecting her fledlings who typicall nest in hedgerows at the side of the road.

Been there, done that, but it was a bluejay while I was on foot doing a building inspection. Small bird, but very tenacious, and
with lots of sharp bits.

If it happens again, whats the best course of action to take? Outrunning it is NOT an option:)

Well, you could try carrying a clipboard like I did, or just get a really heavy duty badminton racquet :D
 
That is insane! I bet that got your HR up too!

The closest I've come to such an attack was riding through a pack of standing geese. Those things are nasty and stand their ground.
 
Mojo Johnson said:
That is insane! I bet that got your HR up too!

The closest I've come to such an attack was riding through a pack of standing geese. Those things are nasty and stand their ground.

Geese. I lived on a farm that had a pond inhabited by a bunch of geese. Nasty f**kers, they are: mean, obstinate, and they sh1t everywhere.
 
alienator said:
Geese. I lived on a farm that had a pond inhabited by a bunch of geese. Nasty f**kers, they are: mean, obstinate, and they sh1t everywhere.

They are all over the place around here. They don't migrate anymore they just hang around all year long.

Your descripion of geese is very accurate based on my experiences with them....
 
64Paramount said:
They are all over the place around here. They don't migrate anymore they just hang around all year long.

Your descripion of geese is very accurate based on my experiences with them....
River trails are especially treacherous around here because they get extremely slick with goose dung. It is everywhere. And during nesting season and when the little suckers are still young, the adults get really nasty. I think that it was much better when they were endangered and would be the first in line if licenses were being sold to hunt the buggers, preferrably with RPGs.
 
Geese and their feces are nasty...

Some more annoying birds:

Turkeys. The buggers fly low across rural roads here. They can get kind of heavy too....wouldn't want to hit one.

Sandhill Cranes. Almost hit one last week....it decided to run out from the ditch...right in front of our group. Luckily we weren't drafting too closely....
 
just recently had a bee run straight through the vent in my helmit felt it bussing in there must have beaten the record for removing helmit before the sting :eek: