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Bear struck by taxi on highway

A bear was struck by a taxi last Friday around 9 p.m., causing extensive damage to the car and unknown injuries to the bear.

A bear was struck by a taxi last Friday around 9 p.m., causing extensive damage to the car and unknown injuries to the bear.

Driver, Joe McGeragle said the bear took him completely by surprise when it ran out of the woods on to the road at the Boot Pub intersection on Highway 99.

"At 70 km/h, you don’t have much time to react. I tried to swerve but he clocked my left headlight, which swung him sideways into the driver’s door," he said.

The car was taken off the road with the damage that included a six inch dent along the front quarter panel.

The startled bear left the scene before it could be examined but McGeragle said "it was definitely bleeding badly."

He believed the bear was a two year-old yearling.

"I hit him hard and spun him around which breaks my heart. But I guess if I can do anything to help, it’s to warn people to slow down and be aware the bears are out. If it had been a person I had hit, they’d be dead for sure."