One of the problems associated with riding early in the morning, especially at this time of year, is dozy wildlife. Pigeons in particular seem to wander around in the road paying very little attention to what is going on. I've got used to shooing them out of the way, and of hissing at cats to get their attention and make sure they don't run back into the road. This morning, however, on a 60 kilometre ride on Hampshire lanes, I had a couple of novel experiences.
The first was when a pheasant tried to land in front of me. It was on final approach, heading straight for me when it must have realised that I was there. There followed a full blown crash landing! The bird tried to land and turn and run away, all at the same time. It didn't go well. It ended up on the lane on its back scrabbling to turn the right way up, and to run away. Of course, it couldn't outrun me, so after a frantic effort, it finally scrambled into the air again and flew away.
The other thing that happened, on two separate occasions, was squirrels jumping into the road, taking one look at me and dashing back into the undergrowth. And finally, I saw two weasels dashing across the road. And unlike pigeons, pheasants, cats and squirrels, that is very unusual.
