COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – She had a flawless driving record, but Joanne Sidwell's first sighting of a black bear and her first-ever fender bender happened at precisely the same moment.
"It was a black blur, and I thought it was a dog," Sidwell shared exclusively with NewsChannel 5 on Wednesday.
Instead, it was a middle-aged black bear: not full-grown, Sidwell described; and certainly not a cub.
The incident happened in broad daylight around noontime Monday, in the 1500 block of Bunker Hill Road, not far from Joanne's house.
Sidwell said she was traveling eastbound and the animal darted in front of her car, from left to right. She clipped the animal's right, hind leg; but the animal was well enough to run away.
"Thank goodness," she said. "Because I love animals. And I hope its leg is not broke, because that would be bad. But I think it's just hurt a little bit."
Some are blaming the drought, but TWRA said the bears are likely on the hunt for food rather than something to drink.
According to the TWRA, bear sightings in Putnam County are not all that rare. One officer said that part of Tennessee usually gets several reports of bear sightings each year.
