Animals I have met

The other day I was telling someone my Emu story and it occurred to me that I seem to have reasonably frequent run-ins with critters while out and about on the bike.  Getting into Adv riding has only increased my odds.  So far I've been lucky in that the run-ins have only been eye openers for me, although some critters were harmed  (unintentionally) in the making of this post...

So, now for a bit of a list and maybe some tales...

Birds

They say that in NZ we have a bird for every job that mammals do in other places (our only native mammals are a couple of little bats) so you tend to see a few.  I won't mention every bird I've seen but just the ones where things have got interesting:

• Swifts - normally travel in squadrons of hundreds and explode on impact when hit by an RG250 at 80mph...
• Sparrows - small and fast.  Will cook right through when wedged between the oil cooler and fairing on a GSX750F.  Cooked sparrow comes apart easy...
• Pukeko - dumb enough to run into the side of a Tenere.
• Hawks - big, slow, angry and not to be messed with.  Often snacking in the middle of the road.  Nearly took one on the handlebars of my GSX400X - would have been exciting.
• Weka - don't normally see them on the road but they are nosey so and so's

Amorous weka meets SB...

• Ducks - hard case jokers.  Slow to cross the road unless they lift off.  Unfortunately hit some little ones with the VTR one night.  Mark hit an adult duck one day and it was like watching a cartoon...
• Magpies, seagulls, pheasants - morons that get in the way occasionally.
• Penguins/kiwi - only seen warning signs so far.  Seen wild kiwi on Stewart Island - cool!
• Turkeys - are turkeys...

Why did the turkey cross the road?

• Emus...

Small furries

• Cats - quick but dumb.
• Hedgehogs - slippery, often flat.
• Dogs - not too bright but man's best friend.  Did see a smart lab the other night - he used the pedestrian crossing to get across a busy road (yes, he was taking himself for a walk too).
• Rabbits - fast, but not as fast as a Connie.  Soft.
• Possums - harder than rabbits.  Slow, can be dazzled by lights, make a thumping sort of noise when hit by a Connie mid corner.
• Rats, Weasels, stoats, ferrets - introduced pests (like all the others above) that munch on our birds.  Small, fast and hard to hit, but I try...

Bigger stuff

• Goats - quick, agile.  Often all over the road but pretty good at getting out of the way.
• Sheep - dopey, generally have no idea.  The smartest ones appear to live on the French Pass road - no fences but they know to get off the road for vehicles.

Not the French Pass Road (much further South)

• Pigs.  Domestic ones are fat and slow but normally stay off the road (they like wet, muddy drains though).  Wild ones are small, fast, hard and hard to see at night - would not want to hit one.
• Seals - only on the rocks at the side of the road.  Only seen fur seals but would like to see an elephant - as long as it wasn't on the road...
• Deer - fast, scatter brained.  Scare Concours riders when they run out in front of them at 2am in the night.  Not so bad in daylight - and this is the French Pass Road.

• Horses - big, solid, dumb and sometimes on the loose on the East Cape.

• Cattle - see horses but with added poo and more moo.  Have tangled with calves, cows, steers and bulls in my travels...

So far not many moas or Fiordland moose...

He froze upon seeing the Connie pull up...

And I'd be unlucky to come across a sign like this (popped up in my Facebook feed by coincidence).  I will keep my eyes peeled though...perhaps best to stay away from any Jenny Craig's...