A Port Moody, B.C., woman is reminding the public to lock up their vehicles, after the interior of hers was ripped to shreds by a curious black bear early Sunday morning.
Leanne Cederberg wasn’t at home when the culprit struck, but she said her children were asleep in their beds. The eldest awoke to a strange sound; bears often visit the neighbourhood to rummage through the garbage cans, she added.
“He got up to kind of try and scare the bears away, and he was like, ‘What is going on? I still hear things, but I don’t see things,'” she recalled. “He came out to look to see if the bear was gone and saw that the van was moving.”
Cederberg said her son thought the bear was outside of the van under the carport, pushing on its exterior, but when the horn starting honking, he realized that wasn’t the case.
The eldest son called police, who arrived with their lights and sirens on. That scared the bear away, Cederberg recounted, but not before it could do a significant amount of damage to her van’s interior.
Videos posted to social media show show much of the trunk and door siding ripped out, along with paw prints on the front seat, and other damage. The seats are still wet from the bear’s urination, Cederberg said.
“I posted more online as just a reminder to people to make sure you lock your vehicles because bears will come if you’re not careful and it’s something that has definitely given me the reminder to lock my doors,” she told Global News.
“It’s really awful when your car gets trashed and we’re going to be out a lot of money. Just hoping that doesn’t happen to other people.”
Cederberg said ICBC has given her $750 for a rental, with her van now undrivable. It could take two weeks, however, for the van to be towed.
Cederberg said there weren’t a pile of attractants in the van — just a vanilla granola bar still sealed in its wrapper.
Josh Peters, a wildlife safety response officer for the Conservation Officer Service in Mission, said black bears can smell wrapped up food and are currently experiencing hyperphagia — incessant hunger that drives them to eat as much as possible before winter hibernation.
“This phase is what can cause them to try to get inside structures which usually they’re not going into,” he told Global News.
“We don’t have any reports of this happening, so it’s kind of a one-off occurrence.”
It may be surprising that a bear could open a car door, but it’s not unprecedented, he added, encouraging anyone who sees a bear in their home or vehicle to call the service’s reporting line at 1-877-952-7277.
“Bears can have a bit of a history of developing some habits of opening latches on barn doors and trying to open handles to get inside vehicles or structures,” Peters explained.