Cambridge man buys car from Polar Chev, strikes bear on the way home

Post date: Mar 29, 2012 8:06:43 PM

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 11:44 am | Updated: 10:53 am, Thu Mar 22, 2012.

Cambridge man buys car from Polar Chev, strikes bear on the way home by Nick Backus/Staff Writer TownNews.com | 0 comments

LINWOOD — John Eide had about 15 minutes of happy time with his new Toyota Camry from Polar Chevrolet before a different kind of bear sent the car to the body shop.

Eide, of Cambridge, drove his car out of the White Bear Lake dealer's lot on a misty evening March 12. He began driving on Highway 22 to visit his mother in Linwood and soon struck a 500-pound male black bear, right in front of the entrance of Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, Eide said.

“I was going to show (mom) the car and I didn't see (the bear) until the last second,” he said.

The bear hit the driver's side and flipped around the car, crashing into the driver's side door before landing in a roadside ditch. Eide's door was so badly damaged that he had to crawl out of the passenger door. Eide himself was unhurt. The bear had died.

“I felt bad about killing it but it didn't appear to have suffered at all,” Eide said.

Passing motorists began stopping to see if Eide needed any help. A group that had gathered eventually loaded the dead animal into the flatbed of a truck belonging to Creg Rylander of Cedar, who said he had been hunting the bear.

“The cops wanted the animal out of there otherwise they would have to call the DNR,” he said. “I signed it over to (Rylander) to make bear meat.”

Eide said he hopes to visit Rylander to receive a portion of the meat from the animal.

“I never tried it before but thought (it's time to try it),” he said.

Eide's wife had accompanied him to pick up the new car, and the two debated who should drive the car from White Bear Lake to Linwood.

“I've seen a lot of deer but never a darn bear,” Eide said.

A day before Eide's accident, Wisconsin wildlife officials had issued a bear alert as the animals were emerging from hibernation.

Minnesota DNR officials didn't respond to a request for comment on this story.