I'm sorry, is it me or is it *stoopid* season for birds?

[dave87]

Picture the scene:


Sun is shining, it is actually warm for once, and you go for a drive into the countryside. Twisty, grippy roads, relatively open and free - and importantly, 60 limits. Plenty of scope for a fun, relaxing drive.


Well, that is until you come across a suicidal bird. Usually a pheasant, and usually with less road sense than, well, something with no road sense what so ever?


So you slow down, thinking it will fly away. Except they seem relucant to fly. At all.


So you slow down further, and hope it walks/waddles/stumbles to the kerb. Nope. It just sits there.


That is, until you are mere centimeters away, at which point life must flash before its eyes and it makes an incoherent series of movements and by mere millimetres, dives out of the way.

With that one dodged, you can carry on enjoying the sunshine, the road, the driving, however are acutely aware of the suicidal wild life that want to end their existance with the front of the car, usually with expensive consequences.


Just don't get me started on Milton Keynes' rabbit population, eh Rasta?

[Guy]

I said this at the time whilst in the car with El Dave, and Miss Tiggs.

If there is plenty of time to swerve or slow down to avoid said creature then I will. But I WILL NOT try any emergency manouvers/emergency stops to avoid hitting it.(Unless were talking about a deer or something) I would rather plow down a rabbit or pheasant than risk my life, and the lives of anyone I may have in the car, as well as any other road users out there, and my car. 1 more bunny in the world, or a nice insurance claim for a written off ST220 and my insurance renewal through the roof the next year . . . ?

What also really grinds me gears (Sorry Rai) is when said creature is seen in the road in a close proximity to the car, do female passengers feel the need to shriek/scream at an ear-bleeding volume?! This alone scares the life out of me, and almost makes me stack the car into a hedge/ditch/tree!

[Funkstar]

If there is plenty of time to swerve or slow down to avoid said creature then I will. But I WILL NOT try any emergency manouvers/emergency stops to avoid hitting it. I would rather plow down a rabbit or pheasant than risk my life, and the lives of anyone I may have in the car, as well as any other road users out there, and my car.

I had a friend that would actually aim for them in his volvo.

[dave87]

I should explain - Rasta's post refers to a journey back from MK to Tiggerai's during which there was a suicidal bunny facing the pointy end of an ST220. Not likely to go well for the bunny, however Rasta, in a valiant effort did manage to miss it by mere millimetres.

[Funkstar]

Yeah, I gathered

Oh, and bats hitting your windscreen is scary

[stevie lee]

its not just in cars, pavement life does it with mobility scooters too.

There you are trundling along at 3 mph, you see a pigeon land some 20 meters infront of you in the spot you have picked to drive over, you approach the pigeon, slow down a touch to 2mph, you see the pigeon dissapear out of view beneath the bumper and then BAM you get a face full of flappy pigeon that just manages to avoid getting squashed.

so i say, to hell with wildlife, they're quite capable of getting out the way, whether at the last second or once they see you half an hour previous. it's their own fault for getting run over.


i do avoid children though. they are usually accompanied by parents, who tend to shout at you if you run into their 'precious little darlings'.

[Guy]

Oh, and bats hitting your windscreen is scary

Can't say I've had that one before. . . ?!

Have had a pidgeon hitting the windscreen before and hitting it with such a force it cracked the glass

[dave87]

Have had a pidgeon hitting the windscreen before and hitting it with such a force it cracked the glass

Fail.


You are supposed to catch the pigeon....

[Barakka]

i do avoid children though. they are usually accompanied by parents, who tend to shout at you if you run into their 'precious little darlings'.

It's widely accepted that it's open season on Chav's though - especially when they see you coming and sloooowww down crossing the road. I'd swerve to avoid a rabbit and hit a Chav any day

[Mblaster]

I had something similar this morning while out on my mountain bike, someone's dog took a dislike to me and thought it'd be a good idea to run in front of my bike turn around and try to bite my front wheel, was only a little thing and was pretty close to getting flattened.

[yamangman]

A friend once told me you speed up to make them fly away. He lived by that theory until a pheasant went straight through the grill of his vxr and it had to go to the shop.

[dave87]

A friend once told me you speed up to make them fly away. He lived by that theory until a pheasant went straight through the grill of his vxr and it had to go to the shop.

Ouch, not good.


The other one I've had is birds flying out of the safety of the hedge into the path of the car when I'm navigating the countryside around the legal speed limit. Hit one in a hire car, made a great big bang, yet no marks on the car thankfully...

[Gerrard]

When I picked up my ST220 last month, I was driving up the A34 and a pheasant decided to wonder across the carriageway and stop in my lane. There was a car overtaking me so I coulldn't swerve or go around it, so I had slow down a bit and hope that it got out of the way in time. I must have clipped its tail feathers it left it soo late to move! Then the next day, I went to pick my dad up, and on the way back, a bird (I didn't get time to see what type) hit the driver's side A pillar. I swear these ST220s attract wildlife!

I would slow down for something as large as a pheasant, since they can can do a lot of damage. I've heard badgers are worse, as they can rip a gearbox off. Rabbits or smaller I'm less bothered about.

[Guy]

Well after hitting a pheasant on the way to a friends in Henley, it seems to have dislodged/broken a clip that holds this grill in place. (The honeycombe mesh bit underneath the numberplate )



Not sure if its worth trying to find a replacement or seeing I can glue it in place, as every so often it gets dislodged and pushed back.

[dave87]

...as every so often it gets dislodged and pushed back.

Was that what you were playing with at Halfords?


If so it wasn't too noticeable...

[Guy]

Was that what you were playing with at Halfords?


If so it wasn't too noticeable...

Yep it was indeed, the only thing I can think that dislodged it/did something to one or more of the clips was a slight incident with wildlife whilst going over to Chez Lou.