Beaver versus bike
After a long day at Mission: Fun and Games, Engel was cycling home along his usual route on the Red Willow Trail system. He reached the underpass for the Perron Street bridge around 11:30 p.m. when something bolted out of the shadows and across his path.
“It was under my tire almost immediately,” said Engel.
The wheel went left; Engel went right, falling hard on his elbow.
Cursing, the business owner spotted a large dark mammal on the pavement next to him. It was that bucktooth symbol of Canadiana – the beaver – that had wedged itself under the front tire of Engel’s bike.
Stunned, Engel watched the animal pick itself up, and once again bolt – this time down the embankment and into the Sturgeon.
“I heard the splash into the river and I knew it must have been a beaver,” he said. It appeared unhurt as it swam away.
When he went to check in at the Sturgeon Hospital’s emergency department, he told the triage nurse that he had a collision with a beaver on his bike.
The nurse turned to Engel’s wife with a smile: “What did he say?”
“A beaver,” said his wife.
The triage nurse then asked Engel if he’d been drinking or if he was taking any medication.
Ba-dump-ump!
It’s not bad enough that dispersing beavers have to contend with cars, mounties and drunken Belarusians trying to pick them up for a photo, now they have to worry about the whizzing cyclists too! I guess if you’re biking home beside a waterway, you should keep the potential for a beaver collision somewhere in mind. Which reminds me, Jon crossed paths with Bob Rust (maker of the wattle beaver, the giant inflatable beaver, and other wild inspirations) and he’s working on a beaver-cycle for this years festival.
I can’t even imagine.
