An incident from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, proves that bears can be very smart, so smart that they will open your car if there’s food inside and eat to their heart’s content until they’re disturbed.
If bothered, they will get out of the vehicle, take the food with them, and probably look for another cozy place where they can sit and continue eating or sleeping.
Footage of a bear doing something similar has gone viral on social media, reminding car owners to lock their cars next time.
The video ensured it made some laugh, and as for the bear, it got some snacks to take home. On a serious note, the incident highlights a close encounter with a wild animal, which could have ended badly had the bear been aggressive.
Bear Helped Itself to the Rear Seat and Some Snacks
Footage shared on Instagram by ABC News shows the vehicle left with the rear door open and two people, one of them likely being the owner, approaching their vehicle.
One of them asked who had left the door open, while the other person opened the rear door on the other side and appeared to confront the bear, asking it to get out. However, the person shut the door hard again, likely because the bear tried to retaliate.
A slow reaction from the bear suggests it might have been sleeping inside. Soon after, the bear climbed out of the car, legs first, carrying a bag of food in its jaws.
Watching the bear exit the car with the food, the person recording the video burst out laughing. The bear then walked a safe distance and placed the food bag on the ground.
The footage ends there, and there is no information on whether the bear came back to the car for more food or eventually wandered into the woods.
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Bear Cub Decided It Didn’t Want to Leave This Pickup Truck
Guessing Headlights recently reported an incident where a bear cub was hesitant to get out of the driver’s seat of a pickup truck even after the scared owner left both doors open for it.
It is not known how long the cub remained inside, but regardless of the duration, it seemed like it did not want to get out, either because it liked the pickup too much or because it was afraid of facing the owner, who stood outside.
Andy Kerrigan was walking near a residential building on Clubhouse Drive in Steamboat Springs towards his parked truck. Surveillance footage captured by Justin E. Pickar shows Kerrigan opening the passenger-side door, only to be startled by a bear cub sitting contentedly in the driver’s seat.
That alerted the cub, which then moved to the front passenger seat. Despite attempts to get the cub out of the car by tapping on the side panel, Kerrigan was unsuccessful.
Then, Kerrigan went back to the driver’s side, but the cub got too close to the window, prompting Kerrigan to quickly back off and fall.
Kerrigan wasn’t giving up, though. He managed to open the driver-side door, but the bear cub wouldn’t get out. Kerrigan then went to the back of his truck and got a wooden plank to scare it in the hope that it would get out.
Although he showed the cub the plank, it still wouldn’t budge until he gently nudged it. That forced the cub to escape. Kerrigan then chased it around the vehicle and ensured it moved away.
It is not known when and how the bear cub got into the pickup truck in the first place. It is likely that Kerrigan left a door open, allowing the bear cub to get inside.
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