SMITHFIELD?A car hit and killed a cougar during the weekend as the animal darted across a road.

The cougar was later measured at 81 inches long, or 6-feet 7-inches tall if standing on its hind legs, with a chest width almost 3 feet thick, police said.

The collision occurred at 10:38 p.m. Saturday in a residential area, Smithfield Police Chief John McCoy said. Nobody in the car was hurt, McCoy said.

The cougar apparently crawled to the side of the road and died.

Cougar sightings in the area are rare.

Smithfield police received no reports of a large animal in the area until the car crash.