Black bear killed on U.S. 64

A male black bear was killed Thursday in Rocky Mount after it was hit on a highway by a pickup truck.

The bear – in all likelihood a juvenile scouring the region for a mate – had spent the last few days roaming a wooded area in a nearby neighborhood, local biologist Randy Atkinson said.

“The bear came up from Sharpsburg and had spent the last few nights in the Candlewood (neighborhood) in a tree,” said Atkinson, who had been tracking the bear for a few weeks before it was killed while crossing U.S. 64.

Nobody was injured in the accident, but many motorists and residents stopped to watch crews remove the bear from the side of the road.

People don’t realize how prevalen t black bears are in the Twin Counties, Atkinson said. He said he’s aware of at least two other bears in Rocky Mount, but wouldn’t say where they’re located.

“The way Rocky Mount is growing, these guys are losing their territory and these types of incidents are going to increase, as will be the case with any wildlife,” Atkinson said.

Joe Folta, a biologist with the Raleigh-based N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said when confronted by a wild black bear, it’s best to make a lot of noise and move around quickly – anything to scare the animal.

“Never run away,” Folta said. “If the bear sees you run away, it could trigger its predatory instinct, and it will chase you.”

To avoid having such an encounter, Folta recommends keeping garbage cans well secured, and said never to leave pet or bird food sitting out for long periods of time.

Wildlife experts say more than 6,000 black bears live in North Carolina’s coastal region.