What the FUCK?!

An EPIC battle.....
Eclipse v. Black Bear.................
Clearly, mother nature will dominate again....................
..............or not?

Man who hit bear: 'There was nothing I could do'

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER

Defensive driving is commonly on the mind of anyone traveling 70 mph on Interstate 90. But Justin Scott was never taught to watch out for bears.

On his commute home Saturday from the North Bend QFC, Scott hit a 325-pound black bear that bolted in front of his car.

Scott, who lives in Redmond, said he noticed the bear running on the roadside near state Route 18 about 7:30 p.m. When his Mitsubishi Eclipse was about 15 feet away, the bear darted in front of him.

"I screamed right at the last second because there was nothing I could do," recalled Scott, who had never seen a bear outside a zoo. "It made the worst noise, like plowing into a shack. My airbags deployed and I thought it was going to go through the windshield."

The bear didn't, but the impact totaled Scott's car.

Traffic came to screeching halt, he said, and as the groaning bear pulled himself off Scott's hood, another driver cautiously rolled down a window to ask if he was OK.

"I only had one scratch from the airbag," said Scott, 31. "I just couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Other drivers called state patrol, and the bear lay dead on the roadside when a Department of Fish and Wildlife sergeant arrived.

Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Kim Chandler said workers had been trying to capture the bear for the past three weeks, using Krispy Kreme doughnuts as bait.

"These bears aren't looking to eat children or people," said Chandler, who noted there have been no fatal Western Washington black bear attacks in the past 50 years. "When these bears wake up in spring, they want sweet, high-energy foods."

Scott didn't know workers had been trying to catch the bear -- only that he had a once-in-a-lifetime story.

"I called my parents after it happened and they were freaked out," he said. "They asked if I was OK and asked about the accident."

He wanted to tell the story to a Farmers Insurance representative, but couldn't reach one over the Memorial Day weekend. Instead, he told car salesmen Monday while shopping for a replacement.

"The best reaction was from the Nissan dealership," Scott said. "He was like, 'Well, I hope no lions jump out at you.' "

P-I reporter Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.