There goes fluffy
While doing twin training one night in a 310 cessna my instructor and myself were doing touch and goes in Pueblo Co. . As we were bringing the flaps up to takeoff again all of a sudden a coyote darted out in front on the plane and started running straight down the runway on the centerline. We steered slightly to the right and the aircraft's nosewheel missed the coyote by about 6 inches. Thankfully the prop didn't strike him and we continued on our marry way and decided that was enough for the evening.
When we were about 10 miles out from the field on returning we decided to be good little pilots and turn on the landing lights so the rest of our fellow meat heads might see us approaching. On the 310 cessna the landing lights swing down from the tuna tanks on the ends on the wings something like the DC-9 etc.. All of a sudden out of nowhere we see a white flash in front of us and duck for cover, and it seems as if the bird, more than likely an owl, passed just outboard of the right engine just above the wing. So after that we both decided that we had had enough dodging various fuzzy creatures and should call it a night. After shutting down we looked at the leading edge of the right wing with our flashlights and decided that we had just missed the owl and everything was fine. The next morning when we went back out to fly again the FBO owner ask us what the heck we were doing the night before, we told him about all the fuzzy creatures and he told us to come and look at the plane. Apparently we hadn't missed the owl because the right landing light, the frame and all the parts that make in move it were completely missing from the A/C.
The other time I had any close encounters with the fuzzy kind was in Key West one morning. Just after rotation a bird of some sort decided to comit suicide by striking my First Officer's windscreen. The only problem with that the bird splattered all over his side leaving blood, guts, and feathers all over the windscreen for the passengers in the first row to look at for the rest of the flight to Miami. To make matters worse, what remained of the bird became firmly planted between the windshield wiper arm and the windshield. The FO was not too pleased with the view for the rest of the flight to say the least.
