By Gina Morton
LEWISBURG A Lewisburg teen escaped injury when his car struck a 300-pound black bear on Route 15 near Lewisburg.
Clayton Sinan, 18, of Lewisburg, was traveling south when the bear walked in front of his 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser on Friday night, according to East Buffalo Township police. The 3,123-pound car was totaled.
Pat Hess was closing her Colonial Candlecrafters business when she heard a commotion outside. She saw people dragging something off the highway after the accident and was amazed at the size of the bear.
"I looked out and thought, 'That has to be a bear,'" Hess said Tuesday. "Sure enough, it was. Honest to goodness it was huge. I mean, the incisors, I bet they were at least an inch and a half. The paws on this bear were just huge."
In April, residents began to report sightings of black bears roaming in East Buffalo Township neighborhoods. Since then, 40 documented bear complaints have been made to the Pennsylvania Game Commission from Union County, an agency spokesman said.
Detective Darryl Fisher of the East Buffalo Township police said the bear was killed during the accident, which occurred around 9 p.m.
Accidents involving bears are uncommon, he said, noting that the last incident he could remember was in December 2007.
Hess said only once before had she seen a bear come across the highway at her shop, but that was at least 10 years ago.
"Of course we see a lot of deer, but never a bear," she said, adding that neighbors south from the business have seen bears going after their bird feeders. "Whether or not this bear was the same one (visiting backyards), I just don't know, but it's unbelievable," Hess said.
The southern area of the township seems to be the crossing point for the animal, Fisher said, and typically they are often seen around there. However, any time there is a complaint, police refer callers to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
A game commission spokesman said Tuesday that the regional office handles many calls simply by talking and discussing the natural behavior of the animals. Most of the calls are handled that way.
"Nuisance bear problems have changed a bit," the spokesman said, mentioning earlier this summer bird feeders and garbage cans were attracting the animals to residential areas.
"Now with many crops coming on, complaints are leaning toward corn damage. We get lots of those types of calls, of bears hitting agriculture areas."
The bears will eventually move their feeding habits to the woods for the acorn crop, he said.
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