Selected for extinction

Posted on 19 May 2012 by Adam

I ran over a squirrel this morning on my way to the farmers market, with my bicycle. I couldn’t believe it. Two young squirrels were in the middle of the street doing who-knows-what as I glided downhill. One dashed to the far curb but the other checked back and forth before heading right into my rear wheel. I felt the bump. It must have survived the moment, because when I looked back it was gone. I doubt it will survive though.

Stupid thing. I hate running over animals but that was pure destiny if I’ve ever seen it.

Bike to work

Posted on 19 May 2012 by Adam

This week was Bike to Work Week and I bicycled to work all five days. Whew.

The weather was good for it excepting the storm that rolled in during commute time Tuesday evening. Then my wife had to pick me up.

During my morning rides I discovered I had a nemesis: an aggressively territorial red-winged blackbird. The blackbirds are ubiquitous along the route. They nest in the grassy ditches along the farm fields. The males perch above their little kingdoms on the telephone wires that line the road.

I’ve been attacked by blackbirds before, but this one was particularly regular and devious. His particular stretch of road curved steeply over a ridge, so I was moving slow and couldn’t quite look all the way up to see him. I could hear him chirping overhead as he launched himself from the wire and then suddenly a whirring of feathers as he buzzed my right ear from behind. Every single morning in the exact same place (right down to the same crack in the asphalt). I knew he was coming but in my concentration pedaling up the hill he’d still startle me. “Damn you!” I shouted as I shook my fist at him.

Coyote

Aside

I had my first good look at a coyote today. I’ve only seen them from a distance before but this one crossed about fifty feet in front of me on bicycle trail between Coralville and North Liberty. I thought at first it was a small deer; with its long legs and quick and effortless gait, it definitely didn’t seem like a dog. But for all its deer-like movements it didn’t look anything like a deer either. The bushy tail gave it away as it paused to look at me and then disappeared into the woods. It’s funny how such a close relative of a dog can be so not dog-like.

Cliff swallows

Aside

Crossing the Burlington Street bridge on our bikes yesterday, we saw the bridge’s resident cliff swallows catching insects over the river and returning them to their nests. We looked over the parapet and saw the swallows making their sorties right below us since their nests were right under our feet. Though they moved very quickly we saw the colorful little birds up close and, when we listened closely, we heard the chicks in their nest squeaking for food.