Police say a Montana woman used an unlikely weapon to fend off a charging bear -an garden fresh zucchini.

Missoula County Sheriff's Lt. Rich Maricelli says a 200-pound black bear attacked the woman's 12-year-old collie just after midnight on the back porch of her home about 15 miles west of Missoula, Montana.

When the woman, whom police did not name, screamed to draw the bear's attention, it charged her and swiped at her leg.

Maricelli says the woman jumped back into the doorway and reached for the nearest object on her kitchen counter - a ripe, footlong zucchini from her garden.

The woman flung the vegetable at the bear, striking it on top of the head and causing it to give up the fight and flee.

Maricelli says the woman did not need medical attention. Wildlife officials were still trying to locate the bear at press time.

")