Don't mess with squirrels



>You've heard the tales of "rats the size of cats" - well, I rounded a
>bend once to find this *monster* sat in the middle of the road. I
>wasn't going to get too close to it, so I stopped. We spent half a
>minute or so staring each other out and then the rat sauntered off into
>the bushes, probably to catch a deer for supper or something.

"road kill has its season, just like anything-
its possums in the autumn and farm-cats in the spring"
 
I find this story a bit hard to believe.

I have hunted squirrels, and cleaned them, and there's no way a
squirrel would disintegrate in the spokes of a bike wheel. It takes
real effort to skin one of them, and their bones, like your's, are
connected together with some pretty tough ligaments.

How does a squirrel hitting the rear wheel launch a bike/rider into
the air? Riders get launched when something locks the front wheel,
not when something gets caught in the rear wheel.

Chalk another one up to the anonymous author who writes all the
internet legends/urban myths.

My front wheel was bitten by an albino alligator! He darted out of
the sewer, chomped down on my front wheel as I was riding by. Luckily
I was only going about 20 mph at the time and was able to skid to a
stop and get off the bike, only to see it disappear in a few quick
swallows before the beast ran back to the sewer from whence he came.
He must have been 15 feet long! In my nightmares I can still see the
cold stare of his pink eyes!

By the way, by opening and reading this message you have launched an
incredibly subtle yet effective trojan horse. hahahaha
 
On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 19:36:07 -0500, John Forrest Tomlinson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I don't know it all. But there are certain things that I do know -- a
>brick is both heavier and harder than a squirrel. It's simply not
>true that hitting on can be like hitting the other. That doesn't
>require a vast number of experience to demonstrate.

Water is both lighter and softer than concrete, yet falling a few dozen
meters and hitting water is regularly said to be like hitting concrete.


Jasper
 
On 10 Nov 2005 20:28:21 -0800, "41" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
>> On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:26:27 -0500, "Cat Dailey"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >
>> >Perhaps you know it all...you've hit every
>> > squirrel there is to hit in every
>> >conceivable way.
>>
>> I don't know it a ll. But there are certain things that I do know -- a
>> brick is both heavier and harder than a squirrel. It's simply not
>> true that hitting on can be like hitting the other. That doesn't
>> require a vast number of experience to demonstrate.
>
>Don't be so sure- the Cat may know her squirrels after all. "Like"-
>what exactly does that mean? Consider the fake photo of the squirrel
>threaded through the Pedersen. In fact the crumpled thin plastic fender
>was the culprit. A thin plastic fender isn't as heavy or as hard as a
>brick either, but if it gets crumpled into compression, it can lock the
>wheel equally well. As could a well-placed wad of paper on a frame with
>tight clearances.
>
>I don't know eactly what accident the Cat was describing, or for that
>matter what type of impact with a brick, but until she does, if I were
>skeptical enough and cared enough, I would first inquire for more
>details before pontificating.
>

Did you notice that Cat said "It was like hitting a BRICK at 25
m.p.h."
The key words here being "like hitting". Like hitting a brick.

JFT takes that statement and replies "You have no credibility if you
think a squirrel is like a brick in terms of weight or hardness."

Notice the difference? Cat never implied that squirrels were like
bricks.

Want to break a window? Can't find a brick, just use a squirrel;-)

I don't know if it was a comprehension problem, or a weasel move.

Jeff
 
666.org wrote:

> Was the dog carrying a screw driver?

Gene?!?
 
666.org wrote:

> I find this story a bit hard to believe.

What story?

> I have hunted squirrels, and cleaned them, and there's no way a
> squirrel would disintegrate in the spokes of a bike wheel. It takes
> real effort to skin one of them, and their bones, like your's, are
> connected together with some pretty tough ligaments.
>
> How does a squirrel hitting the rear wheel launch a bike/rider into
> the air? Riders get launched when something locks the front wheel,
> not when something gets caught in the rear wheel.

If by chance you mean the OP, he wrote that the squirrel hitting his
friend's rear wheel cause him to crash, and he "went airborn" for nearly 12
feet. If indeed the animal locked up the bike unexpectedly, that doesn't
sound too far-fetched to me.

> Chalk another one up to the anonymous author who writes all the
> internet legends/urban myths.

"Ellis" is anonymous but "666.org" is not? "Fascinating"...
 
In article <43739f87.0@entanet>, [email protected] says...

>You've heard the tales of "rats the size of cats" - well, I rounded a
>bend once to find this *monster* sat in the middle of the road. I
>wasn't going to get too close to it, so I stopped. We spent half a
>minute or so staring each other out and then the rat sauntered off into
>the bushes, probably to catch a deer for supper or something.

When he couldn't catch you, he probably did have to settle for deer.
--------------
Alex
 
On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:22:53 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>Water is both lighter and softer than concrete, yet falling a few dozen
>meters and hitting water is regularly said to be like hitting concrete.

Yes people say it. Does that make it so?

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
 
John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:22:53 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Water is both lighter and softer than concrete, yet falling a few dozen
> >meters and hitting water is regularly said to be like hit ting concrete.
>
> Yes people say it. Does that make it so?

No but the facts do. Water is viscous, i.e. its response is time
dependent, and it is incompressible, so at sufficient speeds, yes
hitting it can be like hitting concrete. How fast is sufficient and how
like is like? Jump off a bridge and it's (usually) like enough. Not
always, but usually.

Squirrels are viscoelastic and, like a folded-up wad of paper or a
folded up plastic fender, incompressible enough when folded in the
right way, that one should inquire at least a little further into the
details before dismissing the experience.
 
"Bill Sornson" <[email protected]> wrote:

>666.org wrote:
>
>> Chalk another one up to the anonymous author who writes all the
>> internet legends/urban myths.
>
>"Ellis" is anonymous but "666.org" is not? "Fascinating"...

Bill, I'd like you to meet the Antichrist.

Antichrist, Bill.

Play nice, now.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame
 
Jeff Starr wrote:
>
> Want to break a window? Can't find a brick, just use a squirrel;-)
>
> I don't know if it was a comprehension problem, or a weasel move.
>
> Jeff

This thread is edging dangerously close to the epic "chicken gun"
issue:
http://www.snopes.com/science/cannon.htm

Other Jeff
 

>Bill, I'd like you to meet the Antichrist.
>
>Antichrist, Bill.
>
>Play nice, now.

Use all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste!
 
666.org wrote:
>> Bill, I'd like you to meet the Antichrist.
>>
>> Antichrist, Bill.
>>
>> Play nice, now.
>
> Use all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste!

Um, I just came in for some foot powder.

-- B. Fife
 
Sorry, I think you (JFT) got it wrong here... Although being launched
seems pretty weird, getting your rear wheel locked when going 25 mph
will most likely put you down. Typically, a high speed rear wheel
lockup will have the bike melt out from under you, slamming you down on
your hip, shoulder and ear.

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 21:47:18 GMT, "ellis" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Just adding to the plastic bag stories. A friend of mine was doing laps on
>>a park lane, going about 25mph, when a squirrel darted out of the bushes and
>>into the bike traffic. My friend had no time to brake or even blink before
>>the squirrel kamakazed into his back wheel. The poor thing got shredded in
>>the spokes and sent my friend airborne a good twelve feet. His Madone was
>>totaled, he broke his femur, and the critter was in a hundred little pieces.
>
>
> Any crash "caused" by a squirrel in the rear wheel is really rider
> error. The proper way to avoid crashing when a squirrel runs into
> your wheel is to keep doing whatever you were doing. Don't panic,
> don't slam on the brakes or jerk the bike.
>
> No way an animal as small and light as a squirrel can cause a crash
> when it hits the rear wheel unless the rider panics. And it's
> extremely unlikely it can cause a crash hitting the front wheel
> either. *Maybe* if the rider was leaned over in a hard turn then a
> squirrel in the front wheel could cause a problem.
>
> JT
>
>
>
> ****************************
> Remove "remove" to reply
> Visit http://www.jt10000.com
> ****************************
 
666.org wrote:
>Was the dog carrying a screw driver?

You saw that dog too? :)
 
On 11 Nov 2005 18:27:53 -0800, "JeffWills" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Jeff Starr wrote:
>>
>> Want to break a window? Can't find a brick, just use a squirrel;-)
>>
>> I don't know if it was a comprehension problem, or a weasel move.
>>
>> Jeff
>
>This thread is edging dangerously close to the epic "chicken gun"
>issue:
>http://www.snopes.com/science/cannon.htm

Mythbusters actually tried this out, and found that frozen or thawed made
virtually no difference to the airplane windscreens they were testing --
all shattered badly.

Jasper
 
Jasper Janssen <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 11 Nov 2005 18:27:53 -0800, "JeffWills" <[email protected]> wrote:

>>This thread is edging dangerously close to the epic "chicken gun"
>>issue:
>>http://www.snopes.com/science/cannon.htm
>
>Mythbusters actually tried this out, and found that frozen or thawed made
>virtually no difference to the airplane windscreens they were testing --
>all shattered badly.

Though they did use a Piper Cherokee (small four place GA aircraft)
instead of a fighter for their test. Watching the results of the
Mythbusters' testing gave me a bit of a chill since I used to fly one
of those... the chicken pretty much not only went through the
windscreen without slowing down, but then proceeded to do serious
damage to the aluminum airframe.

Good things chickens don't spend much time at 10,000 feet, frozen or
not!

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame
 
I had a large New Jersey squirrel go *through* my front wheel while
descending a hill (Hillside Ave in Alpine, NJ). It made a bit of a
whack sound. I went into a kamikaze like descent and did not regain
control until just before the bottom of the hill with two way traffic,
yikes! I thought for sure I was going to eat pavement. The fat
squirrel (as in late winter/early spring) continued on and made it to
the other side of the road, running off onto someone's front lawn.

My front wheel is a Velocity Spartacus - Deep V rim with 16 spokes,
paired design. Despite a low spoke count, given the fast speed (easily
25mph +) I was going at (downhill), I'm still wondering how it made it's
way through my front wheel successfully. I wonder how I would have
faired with my 36 spoke, low profile rim wheel.
 
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