Black bear roadkill, part 1

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  • A new sign on Highway 515 just north of Cherry Log alerts southbound motorists of a stretch where several bear have been struck and killed. (Photo by Mark Millican)
    A new sign on Highway 515 just north of Cherry Log alerts southbound motorists of a stretch where several bear have been struck and killed. (Photo by Mark Millican)
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Sunday morning, June 2, 2019, I stood in my church clothes beside Georgia Highway 515 on the southbound shoulder near Joann Sisson Road while the traffic rocketed by going back toward Atlanta. I had answered a lady’s desperate plea on a community message board about a black bear roadkill. 

A new sign on Highway 515 just north of Cherry Log alerts southbound motorists of a stretch where several bear have been struck and killedI was looking at one of God’s creations, an American black bear, dead. “What a waste,” I said aloud to myself. It was a male black bear yearling. It was family breakup time and he had his freedom and a chance to be independent for about one week. 

He had great natural black bear behavior to be active at night! That is the way God created him. Humans significantly encroached into his natural habitat with colonization but even more so in the late 19th century with commercial logging into the region. 

He had very bad luck in trying to cross a four-lane highway where the average speed far exceeds the posted speed limit both day and night and especially on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was not my first time to see a black bear roadkill on Highway 515. I had reported an old bear near the south entrance to White Path Springs Road the previous July. 

“What happens to black bear roadkill anyway and does anyone really care,” I thought. We cared and the journey began for the Appalachia Georgia Friends of the Bears the following day, ironically, the ninth anniversary of the “Road-Kill Law.” We had several questions arise. What do you do when you see a black bear roadkill? Can “Joe Citizen” just pick it up and do something useful with it? How often does this happen? I had seen two within 12 months, and four of those months they were in hibernation. Were there more?

The first thing one does is call the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Department. If the black bear is in the roadway, call 911. It is an immediate road hazard and can endanger other drivers. If it is out of the roadway and does not pose a traffic hazard call the non-emergency number 706-635-8911. In both scenarios, call the GDNR 24/7 Hotline 1-800-241-4113. Both agencies will ask you questions. 

“Can I keep it?” Georgia Code § 27-3-28, “The Roadkill Law,” states that one can keep a black bear accidently killed by an automobile, but they must report it to GDNR or law enforcement within 48 hours and a form submitted. Georgia Code § 27-3-26 states it is unlawful to buy, sell, barter or exchange a bear or bear part. It is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and upon conviction, you may be punished by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, by confinement for a term not to exceed 12 months or both and have to pay restitution.

“Why does it matter and how often does this happen anyway,” one may ask. We will explore those questions next week.

By Gerald Hodge, Founder of Appalachia Georgia Friends of the Bears