Encounters with Snakes/Wildlife while riding?

Watched a guy in front of me run over a snake in the woods in a cross country race. I am more worried about a rabbit going through my spokes in the front wheel or hitting a deer than a snake. Riding boots should keep snakes from biting your lower leg/ankle.

Yup, come across Mojave Greens and other Rattlesnakes in the deserts here in So Cal. Also had deer, bears, rabbits, tortoises, bobcats and mountain lions cross both in front of and behind us while trail riding in the mountains here.

Coyotes, bobcats, deer, and rattle snakes are all pretty common to see while riding in the mountains/desert here in southern CA. I've seen a couple mountain lions over the years while hiking as well. 

Dammit, you beat me to it. 

Riding is better than walking in snake country

I'm sure we are even talking about the same places 

Not while riding but a kid died at my local lake from crashing a wakeboard in a moccasin den. 

Come across snakes all the time out here in San Diego...   but that's out on the trails for me,  I'm not on tracks.

Sometimes it's too late to miss them and I hate running them over.  

Funny you mention McGraths private track....we ride out near Thing Valley quite a bit.   (that property is gated and last I saw was for sale)   Only 6.3 milskis

Check out the video on this realtor link....

https://www.qwikvid.com/realestate/go/v1/home/?idx=HGXc7BL6bA8SVZR5qbUw…

I've had snakes lunge at me during hare scrambles in Pennsylvania, come across bull moose on trails in Colorado numerous times (they just moved along), was raced by a large pronghorn one time at a riding area (he ran 30 feet alongside of me and matched my speed until he sprinted away from me as the fastest North American land animal), rode alongside a herd of pronghorn for about a mile, been in the middle of both elk and deer herds, lots of marmot and ground hog dodging throughout the years, and been swooped by countless birds.  Even had birds steal our food when we stopped to eat!

One time riding in Baja Mexico a baby rattle snake crawled up next to the front brake rotor on one of the bikes during a quick rest stop. I've almost ran over a snake twice while mountain biking also. Seen coyotes, deer, and foxes before, never a mountain lion.

Mostly just bears where I live now days, black and grizzly. Not sure what I prefer, large predators of Canada or the many different animals I avoided growing up in Australia.

Donkeys and also scary dogs in Baja.  It's super sketchy trying to get past them because there's usually a pack of them that hear you coming and come at you..  They run after you and snip at your boots/legs, it's hard to clear them because they stay right in front of your tire, even trying to bite your front tire.

Rattlesnakes, turkey, grouse, bobcat, bear, porcupine, skunk, otters, eagles, deer, and beaver reasonably often. Saw a mountain lion once.

I know a guy who had a wolf run between him and his daughter.

No snakes that I know of but I did cross paths with a Momma skunk and here 4 babies.

Thought I missed the spew until I got home and started taking my gear off.

Man!, did I reek

in CO on a MTB - Rattle Snake - twice - both times on North Table in Golden - shit, might have been the same snake, different day.

Big ass Bull snake at an MTB race in Wisconsin.

Never encountered any wildlife doing MX , wait, I saw a young moose off the trail riding peak 8 MTB from Breckenridge to Frisco.  I didn't stop as I hear they can be cranky.

I came across a badger once, terrifying. 

Pretty cool once on a night ride in Nevada with wild horses running at the side of the trail.  Definitely have had rabbits dash out right in front.

Come to Hangtown for the national and there are rattlesnake warning signs 

I had a rattlesnake jump handlebar height like a coiled spring riding trails in Mcain Valley SanDiego. 
I had always been taught they can only strike haph their body length. Bullshit!

I also had a deer jump over my front fender at Mcain, quite the sight 

At my buddy's ranch out west of Ft. Worth we were riding down a switchback road.

We must have scared a bobcat and made him take off downhill.

Well we caught each other right after a fast sweeping turn, about a 3'bank to the right, and a drop off through the trees on the left.

Jimmy never really saw it, but he launched off that bank right into Jimmy's thigh. It kind of berm shotted off him and landed right in front of me.

I went left to avoid it, and grubbed it into the trees.

It was a bitch getting it out to somewhere rideable. 

Lots of snakes on our property, too.  Mainly Gopher and King (combat the rattlers, which really are pretty docile unless provoked), some garter.   Terrific given the proliferation of ground squirrels and gophers.

I ran over a snake in a race going down the bigger downhill at the old Honey Lake MX Park in northern CA. Not sure if it was rattlesnake or other type, but I thankfully didn't see it again in the same spot on the next lap so I may have just went right over it because it was in between breaking bumps.

We have Northern Pacific Rattlers here in British Columbia, also Gizzly and Black Bears, Moose, Elk, and Mountain Lions. Lots of stuff that will kill you.  

Holy shit! That’s nightmare fuel there. Jesus H…

Not at the track but the woods are a veritable wild kingdom - all sorts of reptiles, birds and furry mammals.

About 25 years ago, I was zipping down some single-track with very dense growth on each side of the trail. A deer launched out of the brush on my left and before I could even react, he disappeared into the overgrowth on the right. It was so narrow that his front feet and back feet were in the brush on either side of the trail at the same time and his back feet appeared to just miss my fender and front numberplate.

It startled me so much that I forgot to soil myself. 

I used to see all kinds of fun stuff on our local mountain bikes trails - copperheads, water moccasins, diamondback and timber rattlers, speckled king snakes, rat snakes, common grass snakes. Also bobcats, coyotes, hogs, armadillos, white tail deer, skunks, suicidal squirrels, roadrunners, tarantulas, on and on. Post-Covid I encounter more and more pedestrians and less critters. I prefer the critters.

Those horses come up on you and it is SCARY.

living in rural outback Australia.. I see more kangaroos than cars in my street. If i go for a ride. 9/10 chance ill be dodging Roo's, Wombats, Goannas and snakes are a standard here. In fact, i had an eastern brown snake wrapped around my foot peg a couple of days ago. 

Oh and turtles... Its like Mario cart with them if your going for an enduro ride.

Trophy Club Park just north of Ft Worth its track and trail riding, right on Lake Grapevine sort of woody marshy trails...  I had what I though was a tree branch fall on me, and my buddy who was following me instantly stopped, as I turned around he was yelling "snake" at me, thats what hit me!  Saw quite a few that day.

I have seen all kinds of animals while riding, but the only animals I am really worried about while riding are deer.  Deer will jump right in front of you, I had a few close calls, those suckers are just dumb.