When Animals Attack

As I mentioned earlier, Kentucky is lousy with dogs. Despite its reputation for almost certain canine attack, I managed to make it through the state without any serious incidents and never sprayed a dog. The most memorable chase took place on my last day in the state when a pair of smart dogs working in tandem charged out of their yard at me. One dog came at a diagonal in an effort to head me off further down the road, while the other one went straight for my back tire. All this while the owner stood silently by her mailbox. It made me want to spray her, not the dogs. After a swerve and a high speed chase, the dogs eventually gave up and headed home.

While I didn't live through any attacks, they do occur. Pete, a rider in the Adventure Cycling group, had a dog sink its teeth into one of his rear panniers and rip it. A guy riding from the West told me that he had a real scare a few days earlier. A dog with teeth bared was tearing at him. He thought that the dog had probably broken its chain given the ferocity with which it was charging him. Just as the dog entered the opposite side of the road and this cyclist thought he was going to be mauled, a speeding SUV rolled the dog.

The best story of an animal attack doesn't involve a dog, but a pig. Caitlyn, the leader of the Adventure Cycling group, stopped to take a picture of a pig that was in the middle of the road when it started "charging" her and ramming her bike. It then proceeded to chew on her bike bags. I'll post a few photos of the pig attack, if I can get my hands on them in Carbondale.