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Odd Things You See on Trails...


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I don't recall ever seeing a road runner on the wing, so that is fascinating.  WIKI says that roadrunners will fly to escape predators but prefer to walk or run.  They are members of the cuckoo family. 

I heard an owl hooting at WC last week in the evening near the Lincolnshire trailhead , but didn't see it.  

There is someone who uses these little disposable plastic devices to floss their teeth and then discards them on the Shady Springs side trail, so that is something I see on that particular trail. 

I found a mouthpiece for a hydration pack drinking tube this last week.  That's it. 

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50 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

I went on a road ride a few months ago. It was cool outside and had recently rained. As I rode past a business park, I noticed dozens of vultures standing around with their wings spread out, watching me. They were steaming.

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How hard were you riding?

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13 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I went on a road ride a few months ago. It was cool outside and had recently rained. As I rode past a business park, I noticed dozens of vultures standing around with their wings spread out, watching me. They were steaming.

I just did a quick google on vultures.  Those look more like black vultures with the white on the wing tips, but turkey vultures more often hang out with their wings spread to dry their wings or regulate body temp. Whichever it is, that is an awesome sight! 

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4 hours ago, Taco Man said:

I saw either a fox or a ring tail cat yesterday crossing the street 50' in front of me.

I see fox on the trail and in my neighborhood all the time. There is one that crosses my yard almost nightly. I capture pictures of them on the game cameras too. We have plenty of them here in south ATX.

I have captured pictures and paw prints of bobcats. Those are more rare but they are around here.

I don't think I have ever seen a ring tailed cat. I had to look that one up - https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/rtail/

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20 minutes ago, cxagent said:

I see fox on the trail and in my neighborhood all the time. There is one that crosses my yard almost nightly. I capture pictures of them on the game cameras too. We have plenty of them here in south ATX.

I have captured pictures and paw prints of bobcats. Those are more rare but they are around here.

I don't think I have ever seen a ring tailed cat. I had to look that one up - https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/rtail/

I saw a bobcat in Slaughter Creek one time. I only saw it running away, but those bobbed tails are pretty unmistakable. 

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I saw a dying barred owl while trail running close to my house.  I am not sure what was wrong but without any kind of thick blanket or gloves I wasn't about to grab it and its ~1" long talons.

Same trail about a week later, I saw the biggest red tail hawk I've ever seen, just hanging out on a branch above the creek.

Edited by AntonioGG
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Coolest owl I ever saw was at Walnut Creek, one morning on a 6am ride with lights. As I was flying through the inner log loops it swooped down into my light beam, about 10 feet in front of me. I am guessing it was using my light to spot prey and hung with me for several minutes, then took off into the sky.

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1 minute ago, AustinBike said:

Coolest owl I ever saw was at Walnut Creek, one morning on a 6am ride with lights. As I was flying through the inner log loops it swooped down into my light beam, about 10 feet in front of me. I am guessing it was using my light to spot prey and hung with me for several minutes, then took off into the sky.

Same exact thing happened to me on inner log loop during a night ride.  However, I don't think that he was using my light to find a meal.  I think that he was using my presence and motion to scare something up.  I'm quite confident an owl can see well enough at night to catch whatever moves.  The problem is getting it to move!

You see cattle egret following around grazing cattle or tractors plowing/moving for the same reason.  Birds might have small brains but they're pretty damn smart.

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I have seen a ringtail at BC one night a few yrs ago. That was pretty cool. 

Last summer I was stopped by some dude wearing fulling on DH kit, Full face, Chest pads, Arms , Legs, Full length pants and long sleeve jersey , he had to take his mouth guard out to speak to me. He wanted to know if he can ride an e-bike on there. 

We were on Peddlers Pass . I wondered if he knew knew something I didnt know about some hidden features

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Same exact thing happened to me on inner log loop during a night ride.  However, I don't think that he was using my light to find a meal.  I think that he was using my presence and motion to scare something up.  I'm quite confident an owl can see well enough at night to catch whatever moves.  The problem is getting it to move!

You see cattle egret following around grazing cattle or tractors plowing/moving for the same reason.  Birds might have small brains but they're pretty damn smart.

Had this happen on GB multiple times on predawn rides. Wondered if it was a hunting tactic. Once, I was near a tree and turned my head as I was riding by (with lamp on helmet) and was face-to- face with a screech owl.

 

By far the strangest things have been: the head and neck (decapitated) of a young deer right on the trail —predawn on GB;

A young topless woman hiking with with her young son; a bobcat nonchalantly walking across the trail about 15 feet in front of me.

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riding through Stephenson Preserve, I rode past a ... fashion photoshoot? a bare-chested women was standing in the middle of a field while another women was photographing her. nothing raunchy going on, it all seemed very tasteful. just kinda weird.

On that note, there's a lot "found materials" art installations in south Austin. Stephenson has some local guerrilla  artists who install new stuff all the time. I met the guy who made the "meditation station" you'll see in the middle of Reproductive Cycle. There's a spiral of rocks, gemstones, dream-catchers and other new-agey stuff on a trail in BCGB that I could not find again if I tried, which makes it all the more mysterious.

I almost ran over a passed-out drunk man under a MOPAC bridge along Williamson Creek one day. I woke him up and he started telling me his life's story. I didn't want his life's story but I could not shut him up. I talked him into getting up and finding some water to drink. I saw him a little while later at Whataburger and he said someone had bought him some food. then he want to Taco Cabana and started drinking again. damn, that was a sad day for me, maybe worse for him.

Edited by mack_turtle
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19 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

riding through Stephenson Preserve, I rode past a ... fashion photoshoot? a bare-chested women was standing in the middle of a field while another women was photographing her. nothing raunchy going on, it all seemed very tasteful. just kinda weird.

Sounds similar to a ride sighting I encountered a couple of months ago. 

AF0B35AB-6B6C-4BCC-A67F-EFE1146D35E2.jpeg

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