STANWOOD — A bear and a horse were killed in separate accidents Wednesday night on north Snohomish County roads.
The bear was struck about 8:15 p.m. on northbound I-5, a few miles north of Stanwood, said Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis.
A woman was driving home to British Columbia when she hit the bear in the center lane, he said. The woman was unhurt.
The bear was knocked into another lane and hit by a semi. The animal weighed about 200 pounds, “definitely not a full-grown bear,” Francis said.
It is hard to know if the bear killed Wednesday is the same one spotted in the woods and grass of the I-5 median near Stanwood in late April, said Jennifer Maurstad, a sergeant with the state Department a Fish and Wildlife.
“It just seems like there are so many bears in that area,” she said.
The median separates six lanes of northbound and southbound traffic, which whizzes by at 70 mph.
Maurstad set a live trap in April, but the bear didn’t oblige.
Wednesday’s crash “was real close to where the trap was set,” Maurstad said.
In July a small bear was hit on I-5 in the same area.
In 2010, a bear was killed on southbound I-5 near Everett Mall Way.
The bear spotted near Stanwood in April was believed to be young, weighing roughly 150 pounds.
An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears live in Washington, according to Fish and Wildlife. They typically avoid people but can wander into residential areas, attracted by garbage, pet food and bird feeders. As a precaution, pet food should be kept inside and garbage should be put out in the morning.
In the spring, black bear diets consist mostly of plants, from emerging grasses and sedges to horsetail and various flowering plants. The I-5 median near Stanwood is lush with tall grass to chomp on.
“There is a corridor there that they are using,” Maurstad said. “It’s not working out too well for them.”
Besides traps, options are limited.
“Short of putting fences up and down I-5, there really isn’t much we can do,” she said.
The state Department of Transportation picked up the carcass and buried the bear.
Troopers on Wednesday night also were called out to a crash involving a car and a horse.
Around 10:30 p.m., the horse was struck by a car heading southbound along Highway 9 in the Arlington area.
The driver, a 77-year-old woman in a Toyota Prius, was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. Three horses were in the roadway at the time, Francis said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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