Vacationers Carjacked by Baby Bear While Mama Looks On

A group of friends on vacation had quite the scare on Saturday when a bear broke into their empty car looking for something to eat.

The whole saga was shared by Tanya Young in a series of videos and pictures on Facebook. She and her friends travelled from Knoxville, Tennessee to Gatlinburg, and were staying at a cabin out in the woods. They believe it was a bag of just six dog treats that lured the baby bear into their car.

Unfortunately, the huge animal had a much harder time getting out of the SUV than it did getting in. In the process of trying to escape, it tore apart the interior of the vehicle, leaving upholstery and door panelling dangling by threads once it made its escape.

Although he couldn’t find the door handle, the bear quickly found the horn and leaned on it with all his weight. As the helpless onlookers tried to determine how to free the nosy bear, its mother showed up behind the car and began pawing at it, trying to break it open.

In Young’s harrowing videos, she and the others wind up in the adjacent car, waiting for their chance to set the bear loose. When its mother is a safe distance away, one brave soul leaps out and pulls the car door open. The bear rushes to the opening and barges out, running away without a backwards glance at the humans and their confusing door handles.

The ordeal caused a stir among locals and Young’s social media followers. Even for a wildlife enthusiast, that was just a bit too close of a call. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency took the opportunity to remind the public about their tips for dealing with bear encounters.

Black bears like these are typically docile and not aggressive towards people. In fact, the agency claims that bears will generally work harder to avoid humans than we will to avoid them.

However, bears are drawn in by any sort of food, which their keen sense of smell can pick up on from a great distance. It is for this reason that campers are encouraged to store any food — even pet food — far away from their campsite, ideally in a storage bag tied up in a tree.