Oh, the wildlife I\’ve seen while out riding a bicycle!

Armadillos. Raccoons. Opossums. Rabbits. Coyotes. And yes, even bald eagles!

There\’s one creature, however, that I would not like to meet; and that\’s the shurale.

That part about having to wear your shoes on the wrong feet made me think of Charlie Chaplin as The Little Tramp. I read an article about him years ago; and it said that the shoes that Chaplin wore for that act were so big, that he had to wear them on the wrong feet just so they\’d stay on.

Getting back to the Shurale, I guess I should be glad that he\’s Russian. It doesn\’t look like I\’ll go riding in Russia any time soon. Another article I read about him says he likes to waylay drunk people. Good reason to eschew booze, I\’d say.

I\’m glad that the wildlife I\’m likely to encounter on my bicycle rides is birds and small animals. Even a little critter can be hazardous if it suddenly darts right out in front of you; more than once a squirrel has come close to running right under my front wheel!

Large animals such as moose and bear are different. Use great caution if you ride where encounters with them are possible. For example, hikers are advised to put jingle bells on their footwear so that animals hear them coming.

Bikers need to do something similar, I suppose. The catch is that bicycles don\’t make much sound. Group riders, keep talking. Solo riders, make like Caruso? So what if you can\’t sing; at least bears, moose, etc. will hear you. You don\’t want to surprise them.

I\’d need to learn a lot more about that if I wanted to go for a cycling tour through the back country.