Aug 21, 2006
I Killed A Bear
I was having a little trouble coming up with a title for this post, so I decided to skip the usual witty title in favor of the blunt and straightforward “I Killed A Bear”, since that is exactly what happened on Thursday night.
Judy & I were on the road to The Cabin, which is located between Rhinelander and Eagle River. Mike & Sue weren’t able to make it up there this past weekend, so they offered to let us take over and bring some friends. Judy & I decided to make a long weekend of it and took Friday off work. It’s a 4+ hour drive, and hit the road immediately after work on Thursday.
About 8:15, we were well North of Wausau, passing by Tomahawk on Highway 51. The highway there is 2 lanes in either direction, with maybe 150 yards of grassland & shrubbery between them. Judy saw him first, but I didn’t pick him up until he was crossing into the Southbound lanes. From a quarter-mile away, it looked like a big dog that had run out of the woods. It was, in fact, a Black Bear. Probably not full grown, but still about 200 pounds or so.
Did you know that a Black Bear can run as fast as 25 miles per hour?
Neither did I.
As he took off across the median and into our path, I slowed down and moved away from him into the right lane. When I saw that he was still zeroeing in on us, I slammed on the brakes. We skid for a few seconds, then slammed into the bear. He was hit in the right-rear quarter of his body with the front-right end of my car; I was concentrating on staying on the road at that point, but Judy saw him go flying through the air and into a ditch.
We pulled over immediately, as did a truck that was following behind us. We got out to check for damage, then walked back to the truck. They were concerned that we had blown a tire – the skidding had left a pretty thick smell in the air that they thought was a blowout.
When Judy asked how the bear was, they simply shook their heads and said, “he’s dead”. While I was pretty sure that he was, we didn’t think it was a good idea to check for ourselves – just in case he wasn’t.
The only damage to the car was that a crack in the bumper got a bit larger, and some paint on the bumper flaked off at the impact point. (Gotta love the Saturn!)
Having never actually killed anything before, I can’t say that I feel good about it.
I think we’re cursed. I hit a chipmunk this afternoon on the way to a meeting in Muskego. I swerved, and I swear he ran TOWARD me, like he wanted to be hit. Creepy. The Buchs have blood on their wheels…
Let’s hope that you didn’t kill the
Kuchina Bear or one of his offspring.
Don’t you realize that this makes you a Hero?!
*sigh* Where’s the late-night taxidermist when you need one?
Are you going to require therapy for the blood you now have on your hands (or car)?
Glad that the both of you are okay — but I feel sorry for the bear.
It was you or him, Mr. RISK. Don’t sweat it.
I don’t know what to say. I am an animal lover but you killed a friggin bear. 1 in maybe 50,000 people can say that….
“So Bryan, what did you do thid weekend?”
“Not much. Caught up on some reading, watched golf on T.V., AND KILLED A FRIGGIN BEAR!!! How about you?”
“Nothing.”
End of conversation.