A Tennessee family got several unwelcome surprises this past weekend when they tried to shoo off some bear cubs playing on their car – and then discovered the reason they wouldn’t leave when they opened the car door.
Video shot by Brooke Ward this past Labour Day shows a group of bear cubs playing on top of her father’s silver Lexus SUV.
As the extended family gathers around in both curiosity and fear, several family members try to shoo the cubs off – first by shouting, then by spraying the cubs with a hose.
When the cubs prove hesitant to leave, the family begins to suspect another bear may be inside the Lexus, possibly having crawled in through the open sun roof.
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A quick opening of the driver side door soon proves those suspicions correct, as the debris that was one the car’s interior spills out, followed by the mother bear.
The family of bears soon leave the scene, leaving the inside of the Lexus completely destroyed.
“Even the ceiling was gone, as the bear was trying to crawl out the sunroof,” Ward told NBC News.
While both the Ward and the bear family were lucky to not suffer any injuries, wildlife experts caution that in any situation involving a bear – and especially a family of bears with a mother present – it is advisable to alert the authorities and let experts handle the situation if possible.
Yet despite the seeming devastation the mother bear may have cause the car’s interior, Brooke Ward says the damage was all cosmetic.
“It still runs great; my dad drove it home.”
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