A young bear was struck by a motorist Sunday morning after it ran onto Interstate-270 near Father Hurley in Montgomery County. After being discovered in nearby woods by police, the bear was put down because of the severity of its injuries, police said.
Cpl. Frank Corn of the Montgomery County police Germantown barrack said several motorists called police to report seeing the bear along the highway Sunday morning. However, by the time police arrived it had been struck by a Jeep Cherokee traveling southbound and had limped into the woods.
"The motorist showed us where it had run and it hadn't gone very far," said Corn. "We found it right away."
It appeared to be a black bear, about two years old and weighing about 140 pounds, Corn said. He theorized it had wandered into the area from deeper in the Shenandoah Valley, looking for a mate and had been living in the woods between Father Hurley and the highway. The county police were assisted by officers from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
"The mother kicks them out of the nest about April, May, June," Corn said. "They wander down here, looking for a new place to live. That's why we don't get any bear calls in the fall or winter. They can't find any females and they go back where they came from."
It was the second bear sighting in Montgomery County this summer. Earlier, a bear was found eating out of a bird feeder in the Gaithersburg area, was tranquilized and relocated.