Wild animals are unpredictable. They are interesting and even fun to watch, but when you get too close to them, things can get scary. For example, bears are some of the cutest and also the most dangerous animals in the animal kingdom.
They are ferocious predators, and the borders of their territory are often shared with humans, which means they often encounter each other.
One North Carolina family recently had an encounter with a bear. Although they can look back on it and laugh now, at the time, they were terrified. The bear found something interesting in their minivan, and it got stuck while trying to eat it. Nicole Minkin Lissenden explained what happened, saying:
“We were up at my parents’ house on Beaverdam Road — they were out of town — and the (van) doors were closed but unlocked. All the doors were closed. I went up and looked and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s embarrassing.’”
She didn’t think anything about the door being open and simply pulled the door shut.
She went back inside and went on with her day. Then, she needed something out of the minivan and came out to a big surprise. She said:
“I certainly didn’t think it was in the car, so I closed the door at that point and went back inside. About 30 minutes later, I went back out to get something out of the car, and I noticed all the windows were fogged up and there were paw prints on the windows.”
Nicole had accidentally trapped the bear in her car, and the bear wasn’t happy about it.
It was distraught and trying its best to get out. Nicole didn’t know what to do, so she called her husband. She added:
“The bear was getting more and more upset and thrashing around a lot, and that set off the alarm and started honking the horn. So, my husband had to go up and unlock the windows on the doors.”
He also tried to simply open the doors and let the bear out.
However, the bear kept pulling the doors shut. Finally, the bear found a way to break out: breaking the window. Nicole said:
“He got his claws around it and popped it out. He was penned up in there until windows cracked. He tore all of the kids’ car seats out and tore up the seats to the car. He was just thrashing and clawing trying to get out of that van.”
The bear wasn’t happy after he destroyed the minivan, though.
He was mad and hungry. He decided to go see what was in the neighbors’ house. Thankfully, the neighbors were outside talking to Nicole’s family after hearing the honking. When the neighbors returned home, they were shocked by what was happening. The bear had caused so much damage to Nicole’s van — what could he do to their home?
Neighbor Karen Brown said:
“The bear went into our house and into our kitchen. He went through three drawers and then pulled out some muffin mix. Then he went into the garage to eat it.”
The Browns had seen bears in the neighborhood before and said that they have become a problem lately. Karen added:
“It used to be we would yell at them, and they would scatter. Now, you yell at them, and they just stare at you.”
Mike Carraway, a wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, explained that bears have been a growing problem in the area.
They aren’t as scared of humans as they once were, and they are even becoming more aggressive. He explained:
“We have got a lot of bears out there who are very comfortable being around people in Asheville. And we have had a number of occasions where bears learned to open car doors. Sometimes, they smell something in the car, so don’t leave anything food-related in the car, even it’s a discarded fast food package.”
Nicole isn’t sure what the bear found in her van that was so enticing.
She has two children who are a bit messy, so she assumed there might have been some food or crumbs left behind. She added:
“You can never tell what’s in there.”
Nicole has turned her minivan’s damage into her insurance and is waiting for the vehicle to be repaired. She now makes it a point to lock her doors and roll up her windows. Her family and the Browns are also careful not to leave trash out that may attract the bears and cause another encounter. Hopefully, this was the last time they see that bear.
Watch the footage below.
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