Had to Swerve to Miss a Wild Turkey on my Evening Ride

[Shorts]

+1 above - swerving can get you in a lot more trouble than if you hit the obstruction. Although its tough to do, I'll hit an animal before I put myself into a pole or head-on collision. And the thing even worse than hitting an inanimate object really hard is swerving on a neighborhood street and going into someone's yard and running over someone's child in their front yard.

If you're in the habit of swerving, it will catch up to you when it matters most.

[Wrider]

I've never swerved for or hit an animal... I have, however literally run OVER two animals that ended up dead from heart attacks. My driving literally scared them to death!
Rabbits: 0
Prairie Dogs: 0
Me: 2

Wrider

[ofblong]

Case in point. My WIFE was coming to work tonight because she left me without my helmet (of course she didnt bring me my riding gear either so now im gonna be stuck hoping I dont freeze to death on the way home cause im stuck wearing shorts and a t-shirt in 40ish degree weather at least I have my helmet and gloves). She SWERVED to miss a buck. so because of that she has now caused close to 5 grand in repairs. Needs a new hood (might be able to straighten it out), bumper, side gaurd, upper lighting, and possibly more as its dark so I didnt get to see all the damage. The bumper alone is $1200. Oh and it needs to be repainted now because of it. Door wont open all the way either. What I cant get through her head is because she SWERVED she lost all her breaking power. So now I hope my insurance will cover it under hitting a deer because I cant find any "hairs" from it on the van and last I knew if there was no police report the insurance company had to have proof of hair left from the deer. uhh so now im stuck with a broken van and a broken bike with no reliable transportation until the van comes back from the shop. Although I did find a bad wire going to the stator motor again on my bike.

[RocketGirl]

I had read these posts previously and they've been a great resource. This past week we've had our first encounters with wild turkeys in Hancock County, Maine.

For folks that don't know, they do like to travel in flocks of about 8 or more. They are pretty big and from a distance they look to me like a really big cat or medium sized dog that's crossing the road.

With hubby in the lead and in each instance, we've had plenty of time to spot them (day riding only as we're still newbies) and slow down. I'm about two to three seconds behind and the turkeys have scampered off the side of the road by then.

Ride safely and enjoy the ride!