Had a pig rush out at us on the Bruce Hwy just south of Townsville yesterday. Not fully grown thank heavens, but not a baby either, sort of a teenaged pig. It suddenly appeared from the bushes on the other side of the road and charged straight at us, there was absolutely nothing I could do to avoid it, especially not with the van on the back. He hit into the a-frame, I could see black stuff (which turned out to be the foot pad on the bottom of the stabiliser) go flying, then a big bump as we went over him. Don't think he'll be rushing out anywhere again.
When we found somewhere to stop a bit further along to inspect the damage we found that the water tap had come off the a-frame, an easy job to screw it back on and luckily there seems to be no damage to the pipe as it isn't leaking. It certainly could have been a lot worse, if he'd hit into the wheels not sure what the result would have been. Certainly shook us up though.
Vic said
01:12 PM Nov 1, 2011
Well I've never heard of that happening before, glad you are both safe and the van relatively unscathed! Worth story for our GN Newsletter, hope Cindy reads your post.
It could have been worse though, you could have hit a.....a......a.......Wombat!
Gerty Dancer said
01:27 PM Nov 1, 2011
Well done, thank you for ridding us of another feral pest Nicholstones! I can understand how you feel though, as I hit a suicidal emu North of Coober Pedy, got such a fright. But you are right, theres nothing you could have done, might have been much worse damage if you'd tried to swerve or brake. We had a nice cuppa at our next rest stop and felt better. Hope you did too.
Nicholstones said
01:30 PM Nov 1, 2011
Vic I think if a wombat had come rushing out from the other side of the road, we would have been long gone before it reached our side - they're not known for their speed!
gordon_adl said
01:33 PM Nov 1, 2011
Suicidal pig...Sounds like a rock band. Luckily everyone and everything is OK.
animalcarer said
01:55 PM Nov 1, 2011
MMMMMMMMMMMMM roast wild pork with apple sauce
bill12 said
02:00 PM Nov 1, 2011
I hit a cow with my hilux. luckily it hit the bullbar, and bounced off back into the bush at the side of the road. I was quite chuffed as I made the bullbar, and all the collision did was mark the paint. And the cow dissapeared , too.Hit a few roos over the years, also. A good bullbar is just about essential in the bush.Bill
Vic said
02:46 PM Nov 1, 2011
Nicholstones wrote:
Vic I think if a wombat had come rushing out from the other side of the road, we would have been long gone before it reached our side - they're not known for their speed!
Yeh, I was more thinking about a certain forum Wombat, but agree he would be too slow too, unless he was asleep on the road etc.......Just glad it all ended well for you both and the van, RIP the Pig, obviously hadn't been taught that you don't take on traffic, lol !
Vic said
02:52 PM Nov 1, 2011
bill12 wrote:
I hit a cow with my hilux. luckily it hit the bullbar, and bounced off back into the bush at the side of the road. I was quite chuffed as I made the bullbar, and all the collision did was mark the paint. And the cow dissapeared , too.Hit a few roos over the years, also. A good bullbar is just about essential in the bush.Bill
Sounds like you made a good bullbar Bill, I had a cow bolt out of the bushes at the side of the road in front of the Harley I was riding, me and the bike went up in the air, me landing on my head splitting my helmet in two, a deep stab wound in the back from something (horn?) and a few scrapes and bruises, but survived ok.
Other than the battery ripped out of the bike and landing alongside me, and the handle bars twisted sideways, when I put the battery back in and wired it up, the bike kicked over and I rode it home with the handle bars crab wise.
A few stitches and a headache for me, so was very lucky.....
bill12 said
03:07 PM Nov 1, 2011
You need a bullbar on your Harley!I hit a pig on a trail bike , once and slid down the road on my back for 20m. The worst damage was on my posterior and I couldn,t sit down for a week.Now I stick to cars........
Gerty Dancer said
03:09 PM Nov 1, 2011
Seeing dead cattle beside the road has made me wonder about people/vehicles who hit them, but never thought of it being a motorbike. Vic, you were very lucky! Motorbikes need bull-bars too!
Vic said
03:56 PM Nov 1, 2011
Yes it wasn't the first episode on motorbikes, I wouldn't go near them these days though, used up all my nine lives.
Like Bill's cow, the cow disappeared and I never saw it again......
_wombat_ said
05:45 PM Nov 1, 2011
Hey Vic, at last you have an avatar that suit's you, a real good likeness
Beth54 said
07:16 PM Nov 1, 2011
_wombat_ wrote:
Hey Vic, at last you have an avatar that suit's you, a real good likeness
An ugly old toad? Couldn't possibly be Vic!
Beth54 said
07:23 PM Nov 1, 2011
I've been in a few vehicles that have hit a roo, but never while I was driving.
But I was driving, heading east towards Mt Isa, when I came around a bend and there was a dead cow in the middle of the road...as opposed to skunk......on the crestof a hill!! Doing 90 in the old Land Rover, I had to make the split second desicion to go around it..onto the wrong side of the road!! EEEKK!
-- Edited by Beth54 on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 07:24:19 PM
Smokeydk said
07:46 PM Nov 1, 2011
Cows.back in 1970s I bought a new datsun 120y......had it 2 weeks..driving at sunrise when it got flattened by a cow that fell off a cutting....right on to my car...while I was travelling at 60kph........I never hit an animal..but one hit me..LOL
Vic said
07:52 PM Nov 1, 2011
Geez Beth and Dave, that would have been scary, cows dropping from the sky, have heard that happening after Tornado's in the US.
Hmmm......the toad is probably better looking than I am Beth, but then anything is better looking than a Wombat!!!
This Toad was found in Bayswater (WA not Vic) a suburb of Perth just recently, said he was looking for Wombats to poison or something.....I gave him the right address
-- Edited by Vic on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 07:55:39 PM
Beth54 said
07:56 PM Nov 1, 2011
Vic wrote:
Geez Beth and Dave, that would have been scary, cows dropping from the sky, have heard that happening after Tornado's in the US.
Hmmm......the toad is probably better looking than I am Beth, but then anything is better looking than a Wombat!!!
This Toad was found in Bayswater (WA not Vic) a suburb of Perth just recently, said he was looking for Wombats to poison or something.....I gave him the right address
-- Edited by Vic on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 07:55:39 PM
Cupie said
08:07 PM Nov 1, 2011
Vic ... That's not a cane toad
... look at my new Avatar ...
This is a real Queenslander Cane Toad!!!
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 08:09:02 PM
Me too, might bring my bodyguards with me ......Yes, that looks more like it Cupie, a nudist resort no doubt
glassies said
07:10 AM Nov 2, 2011
i am amazed at the storyof the cow falling onto a car geesh thats amazing ,im gonna have to tell that story to others ive hit a cat ,couldnt do a thing about it, was driving at night on the highway to byron bay from port mcq and it just came out in front of my car if i would of swerved i would of hit another car ,so the cat it had to be.
im not a fan of cats at all but it wasnt nice to run one over though, ive never hit anything on a motorbike, in my younger days i got round on the back of a kwaka nine and have come off of it on an oil slick at the lights at ultimo in sydney that was pretty scary stuff.
Vic said
12:03 PM Nov 2, 2011
I reckon that the Nicolstones pig story and Smokies are worthy of being repeated in the GN News, can I suggest you both send your stories to Cindy in case she missed the thread? Both amazing stories !!
Sheba said
07:58 PM Nov 2, 2011
My mother used to tell me how after my Birth, my father came to visit her in Hospital one night, [Brisbane] covered in Cow S***. He had borrowed a friends' Motor-bike to come down, and hit a Cow on the way, and hadn't bothered to clean-up before he came in.
I can just imagine the reaction of staff at the time.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Smokeydk said
08:11 PM Nov 2, 2011
Digging around old photo albums....I found 2 pics.remember these were taken in 1974.......with a instant polorad camera
the cow is in bottom right of pic.....every panel was wrecked.even tail lights...the dash was swashed into the floor..the engine was twisted over.
$2,700 damage to a new $2,900 car.......yes they rebuilt it..I sold it when it done 287,000 klm
-- Edited by Smokeydk on Wednesday 2nd of November 2011 08:15:34 PM
I was driving up a steep narrow road near where I live (in a rural area) admittedly I was too far to the centre of the road, when A woman coming down the hill waved her arm at me and yelled "PIG"
Me being me I just yelled back ****ing COW
Feeling pleased with myself I went around the next curve and ran into a pig in the middle of the road
Beth54 said
08:31 PM Nov 2, 2011
goinsoon wrote:
I was driving up a steep narrow road near where I live (in a rural area) admittedly I was too far to the centre of the road, when A woman coming down the hill waved her arm at me and yelled "PIG"
Me being me I just yelled back ****ing COW
Feeling pleased with myself I went around the next curve and ran into a pig in the middle of the road
RALPHRALPH said
07:55 AM Nov 3, 2011
i hit a large dog on my z900 at 90km with a grey hound bus up my rear didnt feel a thing just wasnt my turn to go to the pearly gates. is it ture about wombats there stuborn if they sit in the middle of the road they wont moveor am i thinging of moose
Vic said
06:14 PM Nov 3, 2011
Hmmmm......better keep an eye out for Wombat if you see him on the road, saw this on another forum;
"A Wombat
Was in Norseman WA. Watched a HX Holden Panel Van towed in and it was mess.
Engine and drive shaft twisted up on to the left guard. Cross member split apart, leaving each guard pointing 25 degrees wider than built.
Had a pig rush out at us on the Bruce Hwy just south of Townsville yesterday. Not fully grown thank heavens, but not a baby either, sort of a teenaged pig. It suddenly appeared from the bushes on the other side of the road and charged straight at us, there was absolutely nothing I could do to avoid it, especially not with the van on the back. He hit into the a-frame, I could see black stuff (which turned out to be the foot pad on the bottom of the stabiliser) go flying, then a big bump as we went over him. Don't think he'll be rushing out anywhere again.
When we found somewhere to stop a bit further along to inspect the damage we found that the water tap had come off the a-frame, an easy job to screw it back on and luckily there seems to be no damage to the pipe as it isn't leaking. It certainly could have been a lot worse, if he'd hit into the wheels not sure what the result would have been. Certainly shook us up though.
It could have been worse though, you could have hit a.....a......a.......Wombat!
I can understand how you feel though, as I hit a suicidal emu North of Coober Pedy, got such a fright. But you are right, theres nothing you could have done, might have been much worse damage if you'd tried to swerve or brake. We had a nice cuppa at our next rest stop and felt better. Hope you did too.
MMMMMMMMMMMMM roast wild pork with apple sauce
Yeh, I was more thinking about a certain forum Wombat, but agree he would be too slow too, unless he was asleep on the road etc.......Just glad it all ended well for you both and the van, RIP the Pig, obviously hadn't been taught that you don't take on traffic, lol !
Sounds like you made a good bullbar Bill, I had a cow bolt out of the bushes at the side of the road in front of the Harley I was riding, me and the bike went up in the air, me landing on my head splitting my helmet in two, a deep stab wound in the back from something (horn?) and a few scrapes and bruises, but survived ok.
Other than the battery ripped out of the bike and landing alongside me, and the handle bars twisted sideways, when I put the battery back in and wired it up, the bike kicked over and I rode it home with the handle bars crab wise.
A few stitches and a headache for me, so was very lucky.....
Like Bill's cow, the cow disappeared and I never saw it again......
Hey Vic, at last you have an avatar that suit's you, a real good likeness
An ugly old toad? Couldn't possibly be Vic!
I've been in a few vehicles that have hit a roo, but never while I was driving.
But I was driving, heading east towards Mt Isa, when I came around a bend and there was a dead cow in the middle of the road...as opposed to skunk...
...on the crest of a hill!! Doing 90 in the old Land Rover, I had to make the split second desicion to go around it..onto the wrong side of the road!! EEEKK!
-- Edited by Beth54 on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 07:24:19 PM
Geez Beth and Dave, that would have been scary, cows dropping from the sky, have heard that happening after Tornado's in the US.
Hmmm......the toad is probably better looking than I am Beth, but then anything is better looking than a Wombat!!!
This Toad was found in Bayswater (WA not Vic) a suburb of Perth just recently, said he was looking for Wombats to poison or something.....I gave him the right address
-- Edited by Vic on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 07:55:39 PM
Vic ... That's not a cane toad
... look at my new Avatar ...
This is a real Queenslander Cane Toad!!!
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 08:09:02 PM
Vic, I am really looking forward to Fast Eddy's
Me too, might bring my bodyguards with me
......Yes, that looks more like it Cupie, a nudist resort no doubt 
ive hit a cat ,couldnt do a thing about it, was driving at night on the highway to byron bay from port mcq and it just came
out in front of my car if i would of swerved i would of hit another car ,so the cat it had to be.
im not a fan of cats at all but it wasnt nice to run one over though, ive never hit anything on a motorbike, in my younger
days i got round on the back of a kwaka nine and have come off of it on an oil slick at the lights at ultimo in sydney that was
pretty scary stuff.
My mother used to tell me how after my Birth, my father came to visit her in Hospital one night, [Brisbane] covered in Cow S***. He had borrowed a friends' Motor-bike to come down, and hit a Cow on the way, and hadn't bothered to clean-up before he came in.
I can just imagine the reaction of staff at the time.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Digging around old photo albums....I found 2 pics.remember these were taken in 1974.......with a instant polorad camera
the cow is in bottom right of pic.....every panel was wrecked.even tail lights...the dash was swashed into the floor..the engine was twisted over.
$2,700 damage to a new $2,900 car.......yes they rebuilt it..I sold it when it done 287,000 klm
-- Edited by Smokeydk on Wednesday 2nd of November 2011 08:15:34 PM
I was driving up a steep narrow road near where I live (in a rural area) admittedly I was too far to the centre of the road, when A woman coming down the hill waved her arm at me and yelled "PIG"
Me being me I just yelled back ****ing COW
Feeling pleased with myself I went around the next curve and ran into a pig in the middle of the road
i hit a large dog on my z900 at 90km with a grey hound bus up my rear didnt feel a thing just wasnt my turn to go to the pearly gates. is it ture about wombats there stuborn if they sit in the middle of the road they wont moveor am i thinging of moose
Hmmmm......better keep an eye out for Wombat if you see him on the road, saw this on another forum;
"A Wombat
"
Was in Norseman WA. Watched a HX Holden Panel Van towed in and it was mess.
Engine and drive shaft twisted up on to the left guard. Cross member split apart, leaving each guard pointing 25 degrees wider than built.
The car was a write off