Route 40 travelers have run-ins with bears
During the last month, area motorists traveling on Route 40 in Fayette and Somerset counties have encountered a new and unexpected hindrance, black bears. While most area residents know to be on the look out for white-tailed deer and other Pennsylvania wildlife, especially while driving in the mountains, many did not realize that a new, much larger animal is being caught in the headlights of area travelers.
State police Sgt. William A. Zimmerman said the influx in bear-related crashes – there have been four in the last month – is unlike anything he has seen in his 28-year career with the state police and said it appears to indicate one thing: the bear population in Fayette County is growing.
Zimmerman said he remembers in 1991 one black bear being harvested by area hunters during bear season, a far cry from the record 75 bears bagged in 2005.
He said the recent spate of crashes involving bears may be attributed to mating season, which is in full swing during early summer, causing the often-elusive creatures to roam widely.
The first bear-vehicle collision occurred June 21, when a car struck a 300-pound bear near Glisan’s Restaurant in Henry Clay Township on Route 40.
Zimmerman said the bear clung to the hood of the vehicle before the driver was able to come to a complete stop and the bear simply hopped off and bounded into the woods.
On July 1, a vehicle traveling near Addison struck and killed a 350-pound black bear, Zimmerman said.
Then on July 4, a black bear estimated to weigh about 500 pounds was struck and killed by a motorist on Route 40 near Jockey Hollow in Henry Clay Township.
On Saturday, another bear was struck and killed by a vehicle near the entrance to Lick Hollow State Park on Route 40 in Wharton Township. That bear weighed about 450 pounds, Zimmerman said.
No one was injured in the crashes, Zimmerman noted, adding that the damage to the vehicles was surprisingly light.
Last year, Andrew Seman Jr. of Dunbar harvested a black bear in Dunbar Township that weighed 733 pounds.
It was the largest ever to be taken in Fayette County, according to the state Game Commission.
The bear was one of 3,331 bears harvested during the three-day bear season, the largest bear harvest in state history.
Zimmerman said area motorists should be alert for wildlife while driving and take precautions by slowing down and using high-beam headlights when necessary.