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By John Toler
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
An incident involving wildlife near Woodville last month has upset citizens and law enforcement officers, but will hopefully result in policy changes to prevent such actions from happening in the future.
According to Rappahannock Sheriff Larry Sherertz, he was near Woodville on the evening of July 13 when he heard the radio call about an automobile collision involving a female black bear.
Arriving on the scene, he found that a sow bear had been hit by at least one vehicle and was in “pretty bad shape.” The two bear cubs that had accompanied her — possibly six months old — were not hit, and had fled up a tall poplar tree beside the road.
Additional law enforcement officers were called to the scene, including Dep. Robert Fincham, Trooper Charles Moore of the Virginia State Police, and Rappahannock County Game Warden Jim Bankston.
“I asked Jim (Bankston) for an assessment of the sow’s condition, and I stand by his decision that she be destroyed,” said Sherertz. “And I knew that we would have to deal with the cubs, but I thought we had more solutions.”
At that time, the accident had drawn a number of spectators, creating a traffic hazard.
The possibility of using tranquilizer darts to bring the cubs out of the tree was discussed, but according to Sherertz, Bankston said that the closest supply was in Richmond, and it would take several hours to bring the darts to Rappahannock. In addition,
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