One of the last things a Vienna man expected to encounter on the highway Monday night was a bear.

Stan Schiermeier of Vienna, said he was driving northbound on Highway 63 Monday when at about 7:30 p.m. on the stretch of highway between Sputs and Dollar General near Vichy, a bear encountered his Chevy.

Schiermeier said he’s always careful, especially at night, paying attention to traffic and watching for deer. He was driving along and BAM, the front bumper on the driver’s side was hit and he had no idea what it was. He pulled off the road but could see nothing on the highway.

It was upsetting to him as he could not figure out what he hit and hoped it was not a person. He turned around and drove back to the point of the encounter and there was nothing there, only some light debris from his busted headlight and damage to his car. He thought he might find on the road an appliance or piece of furniture that had fallen from a truck, but traffic on the highway kept coming, not slowing down or stopping because there was nothing on the road.

He called 911 and was told they would contact the highway patrol. His car was on the shoulder of Highway 63 near Dollar General with the emergency flashers on. It was not long before a vehicle pulled up behind him with police lights on. It was Sheriff Chris Heitman who was in the area and drove up on the accident. Not long after Heitman arrived, Sheriff’s Deputy Bret Turnbough was on the scene also. Heitman said Deputy Keegan Bonham also showed up.

Schiermeier said he was fairly shook up about not knowing what he’d hit. Heitman looked at the damage and began to pull black hair from the damaged part of the vehicle. “You hit a bear,” he told Schiermeier. It was a relief to know it was a bear and not a person. But where did the bear go?

He was able to drive and Chevy home and Heitman said he would do some further investigation about the bear. He didn’t find the bear or any sign of it but a Missouri Conservation Department representative said the fur looked like a bear’s fur but they will need confirmation from a biologist. Heitman said he’s pretty sure it was a bear. This is not the first time a bear has been hit on the road in Maries County as two years ago one was hit on Highway 133 on the west side of the county. The sheriff said his office has fielded calls from county residents reporting seeing bears.

Schiermeier said he thinks he must have hit the head of the bear and that it came at his car from his left side, the driver’s side, because if it came from the right side, it would have crossed in front of him and the headlights and he would have seen it. “I would rather have hit a deer than a bear,” he said. “I’m relieved to have hit an animal but disappointed that I hit a bear.”