Look out for black bears along Route 66

If you travel Route 66, you need to stay aware of possibly hitting wild animals on the highway — deer, turtles, snakes, coyotes and even antelope and elk in the western states.

In Missouri, travelers may need to be aware of a new wild animal along the Mother Road — black bears.

Earlier this week, a motorist on Route 66 west of Cuba, Missouri, hit a black bear. According to a Facebook post by the Cuba Police Department, an officer determined the bear had suffered severe injuries from the collision and called the Missouri Department of Conservation to euthanize the animal. No other injuries were reported.

An adult black bear can reach up to 240 pounds, so hitting one with a car or motorcycle would inflict a lot of damage to the vehicle and possibly the driver.

I thought perhaps a black bear in Missouri was an anomaly until I saw this map maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

It details black-bear sightings from 2004 to 2017, and it’s clear there are hundreds — including plenty along the Interstate 44 / Route 66 corridor.

Black bears also have been sighted in increasing numbers in Illinois, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona, but not to the volume of the Show Me State’s.

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports black-bear populations were all but wiped out after white settlers came into the state during the 18th and 19th centuries. So a black-bear sighting would have been almost unheard of during the early days of Route 66 in the late 1920s.

But the agency reports Missouri has about 300 bears and growing. The return of black bears prompted the MDC to publicly consider a brief hunting season for the animal once the population reaches 500.

This warning about possibly a black bear trudging along Route 66 isn’t meant to be alarmist. Your chances of hitting one probably are akin to winning the lottery. But it brings to mind what late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire said about his beloved road:  “Old is beautiful, small is beautiful, slow is beautiful.”

The last part of that phrase not only implored travelers to take a slower pace so they can see Route 66’s sights more thoroughly, but a slower speed would allow them a great possibility to stop safely for wild animals that had wandered onto the road. Waldmire was a vegetarian, and he hated to see any animal suffer.

(Image of a black bear by Jean-Guy Dallaire via Flickr)

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