REAL COUNTY, Texas — Falon Hill is lucky to be alive after hitting a black bear on Highway 83 Saturday night.
This incident has her and other Hill Country neighbors wondering what a bear was doing in their area. As it turns out, bears are native to Texas, residing primarily in western regions of the state.
Dana Karelus, a specialist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), said bear populations were on the decline in Texas in the 1950s.
"Since then it’s been kind of slow, but they’ve been recolonizing parts of West Texas," Karelus added.
As to what the bear was doing so far out east last weekend, Karelus points to foraging and bears' searches for a mate. She said it's not uncommon for bears to travel very far distances.
"That way," she said, "we can keep track of these sorts of things.”
Though a bear's life was lost, there is a silver lining to the weekend crash: Karelus said TPWD will be able to study this bear's body to understand the species in Texas just a little more.
If anyone sees a bear in their area, Karelus wants to remind everyone it's illegal to kill the species in Texas as they are endangered. You're asked to contact your local biologist if you see one. Click this link to find your local biologist and send a picture of the bear.
A surprising sight
Randy Hill said his wife was heading south on the highway Saturday night when she hit the bear.
Luckily, a member of the Divide Volunteer Fire Department was only a few minutes behind her on the dark road. Randy said Mark Hurt was able to assist Falon as soon as she hit the bear.
"The Divide Fire Department and what they’ve done for the Hill family… you can’t beat it," Randy said.
"When I realized it was a bear I was like, 'Oh my goodness,'" Hurt said.
No one could believe their eyes. At first they thought Falon had hit a large hog, but she knew it was a bear.
Her husband Randy said that if she hadn't have been driving the large truck that night, things could have turned out much wosre.
Randy said ranchers had caught bears on their cameras here and there, but never did they think something like this would happen.
Today they feel lucky Falon walked away from this incident with only bruises and a fire department willing to drop anything for their neighbor.