The first was sighted by passing motorists Monday morning alongside I-89 North, near the West Lebanon exit. NH bear project leader Andrew Timmins says that judging from photos, it was a yearling, "pushing 100 pounds," and that it was "certainly not Mink's offspring."

However, a few hours later, a bus on Route 10 near the Wilder Dam—the VN's John Gregg reports it was an Advance Transit bus—hit and killed a bear cub. That one, Timmins says, "does appear to be one of Mink’s cubs. It’s in an area where there have been sporadic sightings, not far from where the first cub was caught." A cub was also hit in that area last week, but that one made it into the undergrowth and went unrecovered. "They can take a pretty good impact and be okay," says Timmins. "And who knows how hard [last week's] was hit. The one today, there was no question."

"I’ve got to tell you," Timmins says, "bears don’t get hit in the road that often as compared to deer. Statewide, on average, it might be 50 in a year, where if you compare it to deer, there are a lot more. So to have two in the same day not far from each other is pretty notable. But fall's coming and there’s not a lot of food out there, so bears are traveling to find food. Plus the cubs are traveling to see if they can figure out where they should be and whether they can find mom. And when bears travel, they’re more vulnerable."

The Route 10 cub was picked up yesterday by deputy Hanover fire chief Michael Hinsley and taken to Ben Kilham's bear center in Lyme. Hinsley was hoping for evidence on whether the dead cub was the one hit last week; in his VN piece, Gregg reports that Kilham confirmed it was one of Mink's cubs, and found no evidence it had been hit by a vehicle. Hinsley is "hopeful but not optimistic” that the third cub will be found. “I have learned...never to underestimate the strength and willpower of Mink and her cubs,” he tells Gregg.