Bird in bonnet scoop (nz)

[cobs]

Well this is a first for me, picked up a bird in the bonnet scoop at
~100km/h. Dusk, just north of Levin. Just a flash from the side and a
muted thump. All we could see were tail feathers and feet poking over
the top lip of the scoop.
Stopped to see if the little guy was just stunned - probably was but the
dismemberment from the impact with that grille under the scoop did for
him. No idea what kind of bird, bigger than a sparrow, smaller than a
blackbird, too small to roast.

 

[houndman]

Well this is a first for me, picked up a bird in the bonnet scoop at
~100km/h. Dusk, just north of Levin. Just a flash from the side and a
muted thump. All we could see were tail feathers and feet poking over
the top lip of the scoop.
Stopped to see if the little guy was just stunned - probably was but the
dismemberment from the impact with that grille under the scoop did for
him. No idea what kind of bird, bigger than a sparrow, smaller than a
blackbird, too small to roast.

Shame about the bird, but sometimes it's survival of the fittest. I'm
an animal lover, and hate to hit anything. It has been rare, but one
time while hauling down a back road, a group of Blue Jays were in the
center of the road. All took off but one, and I was waiting for it to
move, but it didn't. Something must have been wrong with it, since the
others sensed me coming. It made me a little sick, seeing it tumbling
in my wake, and I won't assume things will get out of the way for me,
even if others in a group do. I've had close calls with deer and Even
a cow on a highway at night. Good thing it was black & white, and I
saw the car far ahead of me swerve. I'd like to get Night Vision,
since my drives are taking me through state forrests for star watches,
which was an incentive to buy the Sube, and the deer are all over the
place.

VF

 

[David Coggins]

Shame about the bird, but sometimes it's survival of the fittest. I'm
an animal lover, and hate to hit anything. It has been rare, but one
time while hauling down a back road, a group of Blue Jays were in the
center of the road. All took off but one, and I was waiting for it to
move, but it didn't. Something must have been wrong with it, since the
others sensed me coming. It made me a little sick, seeing it tumbling
in my wake, and I won't assume things will get out of the way for me,
even if others in a group do. I've had close calls with deer and Even
a cow on a highway at night. Good thing it was black & white, and I
saw the car far ahead of me swerve. I'd like to get Night Vision,
since my drives are taking me through state forrests for star watches,
which was an incentive to buy the Sube, and the deer are all over the
place.

VF

I have a similar story re birds. I was driving on a mountain road in NSW
(Australia) and as I came over a hill spotted three currawongs sitting on
the road in front with their backs to me. I blasted the horn but they didn't
move a muscle, and since I was doing about 80 Km/H with a caravan behind, I
didn't try to slow down. Kept blasting the horn, but they didn't even flinch
as I drove over them. Couldn't see the result in the mirrors due to the
caravan behind, but I imagine it wasn't pretty. It just looked as though
they were committing suicide. Currawongs are birds about the size of a crow
with similar unpleasant habits - their only redeeming feature is a nicer
call - so I wasn't too upset, but it was very strange.

Dave

 

[houndman]

I have a similar story re birds. I was driving on a mountain road in NSW
(Australia) and as I came over a hill spotted three currawongs sitting on
the road in front with their backs to me. I blasted the horn but they didn't
move a muscle, and since I was doing about 80 Km/H with a caravan behind, I
didn't try to slow down. Kept blasting the horn, but they didn't even flinch
as I drove over them. Couldn't see the result in the mirrors due to the
caravan behind, but I imagine it wasn't pretty. It just looked as though
they were committing suicide. Currawongs are birds about the size of a crow
with similar unpleasant habits - their only redeeming feature is a nicer
call - so I wasn't too upset, but it was very strange.

Dave

I have heard some horror stories about people hitting skunks, and not
being able to get rid of the smell.((

I don't like hitting Anything, since Something will Always get messed
up.((
I can usually find Something interesting about animals. I get a thrill
out of the Canadian Geese migrations, with all their eagerness to move
on when they get ready. Last year when trying to find out if I had
missed them, I came across a service that chases them from residential
areas, using Border Collies. I thought that was pretty
interesting.))

VF

 

[Bugalugs]

Well this is a first for me, picked up a bird in the bonnet scoop at
~100km/h. Dusk, just north of Levin. Just a flash from the side and a
muted thump. All we could see were tail feathers and feet poking over
the top lip of the scoop.
Stopped to see if the little guy was just stunned - probably was but the
dismemberment from the impact with that grille under the scoop did for
him. No idea what kind of bird, bigger than a sparrow, smaller than a
blackbird, too small to roast.

So you'd have to go back to Levin to get some chips from KFC 'coz
there's no KFC at Foxton, Sanson, or Bulls.

 

[Brian]

I have heard some horror stories about people hitting skunks, and not

being able to get rid of the smell.((

VF

Fella at work drove over a skunk in his wife's car a few years ago.
Everybody had a good laugh about it, including him, but he wasn't laughing
when she had him under the car with peroxide. For about a month after,
every time the exhaust heated up to running temperature, sure enough you
could smell it again! Oh, and I'm pretty sure he only scared the skunk.
(-;

~Brian

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Fella at work drove over a skunk in his wife's car a few years ago.
Everybody had a good laugh about it, including him, but he wasn't laughing
when she had him under the car with peroxide. For about a month after,
every time the exhaust heated up to running temperature, sure enough you
could smell it again! Oh, and I'm pretty sure he only scared the skunk.
(-;

~Brian

My company is located near a major league ballpark. So we contract with
a company that parks cars in our unused spaces on game days. Once, we
noticed one of the cars was covered in flys! There was a whiff of decay
around the trunk area and flys were about one for every6 sq inches. We
debated calling the cops in case there was a body in the trunk. After
exami ng the car more thoroughly, there was more stink and more flies
toward the front and underneath. Whatever that guy hit, it left quite a
bit of protein on his car!

hah!

There was a pic of a subaru with a bee swarm nestled in the hood scoop.
And there have been several pics of bird strikes.


Carl

 

[Fred Boer]

Hm. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who *hasn't* hit a skunk around
here, or at least run over one someone else has already done in!

I really hate it when I hit any animal and would do whatever I could to
avoid it - not enough to run off the road or cause an accident - but within
sensible limits, I'll hit the brakes pretty hard or take evasive action.

 

[cobs]

So you'd have to go back to Levin to get some chips from KFC 'coz
there's no KFC at Foxton, Sanson, or Bulls.

Heh, I always feel guilty when I hit something that doesn't know any
better. Interestingly enough, the strike was about 1km away from where I
hit a pukeko or the like in an Impreza (it crossed, I had plenty of time
and coasted/slowed, then it ran back and was wiped out).

Within reason I'll try and avoid larger possums because of the damage
they do, and I've gone to the nth degree without endangering people to
avoid those (native?) hawks that like the fast food road kills. They
need a running jump to get in the air.

 

[cobs]

My company is located near a major league ballpark. So we contract with
a company that parks cars in our unused spaces on game days. Once, we
noticed one of the cars was covered in flys! There was a whiff of decay
around the trunk area and flys were about one for every6 sq inches. We
debated calling the cops in case there was a body in the trunk. After
exami ng the car more thoroughly, there was more stink and more flies
toward the front and underneath. Whatever that guy hit, it left quite a
bit of protein on his car!

[...]

At some point we collected a blackbird under a Ford Falcon station wagon
years ago. Whoever was driving never noticed.
The cat used to meet the car in the garage and curl up somewhere warm
(leading to some humour when the car went out without noticing the cat).
This time after stalking around the car, she shot underneath, and with a
little scrabbling, came away with a mostly dessicated blackbird carcase.
When we tried to get a better look, she was off like a robbers dog,
didn't see it again as she used to eat what she 'caught' .

 

[houndman]

Fella at work drove over a skunk in his wife's car a few years ago.
Everybody had a good laugh about it, including him, but he wasn't laughing
when she had him under the car with peroxide. For about a month after,
every time the exhaust heated up to running temperature, sure enough you
could smell it again! Oh, and I'm pretty sure he only scared the skunk.
(-;

~Brian

I try to listen to Car Talk on NPR, since they always interesting
calls, and some about animals being hit by or In cars, or chewing on
them. One about a rodent hidding kibble in the ventilation system, and
it spilling out ever time the driver hit the gas was pretty funny.
Another about trying to keep goats from climbing on the roof, the guy
left the hood and truck lid open, so they chewed on the wires under
the hood.((

A friends wife had a rat pop out from the cowling where the wipers
were hidden on an older GM car, and was driving with it running around
on the hood. She called her husband on her cell to tell him, and he
couldn't stop laughing.

VF

 

[houndman]

Heh, I always feel guilty when I hit something that doesn't know any
better. Interestingly enough, the strike was about 1km away from where I
hit a pukeko or the like in an Impreza (it crossed, I had plenty of time
and coasted/slowed, then it ran back and was wiped out).

Within reason I'll try and avoid larger possums because of the damage
they do, and I've gone to the nth degree without endangering people to
avoid those (native?) hawks that like the fast food road kills. They
need a running jump to get in the air.

Squirrels give me fits, and Always double back.

VF

 

[John Varela]

Last year when trying to find out if I had missed them, I came across a
service that chases them from residential areas, using Border Collies.

Golf courses usually have ponds for storage of irrigation water. The ponds
attract geese, which proceed to make a mess on the grass. Consequently, golf
courses often have resident border collies that are trained to chase the
geese. Sometimes the dog will swim around the pond harassing the geese.

 

[John Varela]

Squirrels give me fits, and Always double back.

I read somewhere that a frightened squirrel takes action intended to confuse
a predator, such as a hawk, but it doesn't work against automobiles.

 

[Duh_OZ]

Hit two pigeons once while going 70 MPH on I-94 (legal speed in MI).
Landed in front of my car so no chance to avoid them. Just heard a
thump and saw feathers fly over the windshield.

Non animal story - was driving by a park and saw some tennis ball
bounce in front of my sube and continued on. I did notice some kid
shrug his shoulders but didn't think much of it. A few days later
I noticed the tennis ball was wedged in the grill. Left it in there
until I visited a bud with a dog. Figured the tennis ball accumulated
quite a few smells in its travels, but the dog didn't care much about
it LOL.

 

[houndman]

Golf courses usually have ponds for storage of irrigation water. The ponds
attract geese, which proceed to make a mess on the grass. Consequently, golf
courses often have resident border collies that are trained to chase the
geese. Sometimes the dog will swim around the pond harassing the geese.

I have Afghan hounds, the ones with the LONG hair. They are hunting
dogs but Usually Completely Ignore Birds. One had 30 Canadians around
it, and just Stood there as they circled around her and started to
Goose her, I called her, and she spotted a mammal and took off after
it, down the bank through bushes. It must have gone to ground, since
she lost it. I tried to continue the entertainment, so threw pebbles
away from where she was looking. She looked up as I was throwing one,
and quit chasing the sounds.

One must have been bored, because he took off after about 75 geese,
and they went into the water. He Dove in after them, and the breed
Doesn't usually like water, though he couldn't catch them. He came out
Dripping of Rotted Leaves, and my Tan slacks, and the Blue Velore
interior of the car were streaked in Black.((

One chased squirrels up the trees in the fall, and they started
dropping acorns on us, which drove the hound crazy reacting to the
sounds of the corns hitting fallen leaves, she was spining around.

I saw a squirrel sitting in a leafless tree, 18" from a hawk. Must
have known the hawk couldn't manuver to get it. Also saw 2 Pigeons
Chasing a Hawk. Probably had a nest they were protecting, but it was
really funny, and no one believes me.))

VF

 

[houndman]

Golf courses usually have ponds for storage of irrigation water. The ponds
attract geese, which proceed to make a mess on the grass. Consequently, golf
courses often have resident border collies that are trained to chase the
geese. Sometimes the dog will swim around the pond harassing the geese.

TH BC's must Love the work.))

VF

 

[JohnO]

Hit two pigeons once while going 70 MPH on I-94 (legal speed in MI).

And you lived to tell about it?

I mean, driving that slow on I-94...

-John O
-80 mph is normal

 

[JohnO]

I have a similar story re birds.

With the family about ten years ago driving through a rural farm area, a
large flock of robin-sized birds lit from a field and over the road in front
of us. The entire flock was maybe 200 birds, and as they reached ~30 feet
directly above us, they let loose their bowels...all at the same time.

The car was suddenly and completely covered in white-purple bird shit.

Luckily no cars were coming the other way...it took a few wipes and sprays
from the washer fluid to see through all that shit. As we reached the town
there was a carwash but the attendant wasn't going to let us in...I begged
and gave him an extra $5...we can't drive on like this, can we?? I washed
the car again later that day, and it all came off well enough.

-John O

 

[cobs]

JohnO wrote:
[...]

The car was suddenly and completely covered in white-purple bird shit.

Luckily no cars were coming the other way...it took a few wipes and sprays
from the washer fluid to see through all that shit. As we reached the town
there was a carwash but the attendant wasn't going to let us in...I begged
and gave him an extra $5...we can't drive on like this, can we?? I washed
the car again later that day, and it all came off well enough.

Ick. The worst we've had for impacting visibility was a swarm of bees on
the Himatangi Straights (non turbo Impreza so no bonnet catch^H^H^H
scoop. Nice stretch of open road, bit of a cop magnet though.

A dark cloud appeared on the right, then all of a sudden the windscreen
was blacked out with mashed bees - very high goo factor.

We were the middle car of three - the one in front had windows down.
They stopped a few hundred meters down the road and got out quickly
Our wipers were able to clear most, but the windscreen was still covered
with a sticky film that was hard to see through.
We and the car behind stopped at a petrol station in Sanson to finish
cleaning up.

...before that, if I'd been compiling a list of road hazards, a swarm of
<insert insect> wouldn't have featured.