Bear honks horn, takes car on joy ride
Bear honks horn, takes car on joy ride
A bear got into an empty car, honked the horn and then sent it rolling 125 feet into a thicket, with the bear still inside, a Colorado family said.
Seventeen-year-old Ben Story said he and his family were asleep in their Larkspur home, 30 miles south of Denver, when the bear managed to open the unlocked door of his 2008 Toyota Corolla early Friday and climbed inside.
A peanut butter sandwich left on the back seat is probably what attracted the bear, Story said.
It's not unusual for bears to open unlocked doors to cars and houses in search of food, said Tyler Baskfield, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
"It happens all the time," he said. "They're very smart."
Once inside, the bear must have knocked the shifter on the automatic transmission into neutral, sending the car rolling backward down the inclined driveway and into the thicket, Story said.
The door probably slammed shut when the car jolted to a stop, he said, trapping the bear inside.
Neighbors had called 911, and deputies freed the bear by opening the door with a rope from a distance. It then ran into the woods.
Story said he'll need a new car because the bear trashed the interior while apparently trying to find a way out.
The bear also left what Story called "a present" on the driver's seat.
"A nice pile, actually," added his dad, Ralph. "Something to remember."
Baskfield said such incidents are worrisome because they endanger the bear as well as the public. Wildlife managers trap and kill problem bears that learn to scavenge for human food and garbage.
"Food was left in the car. It's troubling for us," he said.
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- Posted on July 26, 2010
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thats crazy!!! if i saw it i would stand there just staring and not moving at all, or i would get out my video camera and record it!
i guess Mother Nature is getting some payback for all her babies being hunted every year. It is pretty interesting that she didn't do this sooner or more often i come on humans are mean to other creatures like this. we fear them, so we kill them to eliminate the threat of other creatures that call forests home.
If i were a bear i would want the car not the sandwich. I would pick up my baer pals and go to duckes . I would go on the road and have the time of my life.
That is a very smart bear. If bears are smart enough to do that imagine what raccoons are capable of! I feels sorry for the family because they have to get a new car. I still like bears though.
Ha that's funny but probably not the person who owned the car. I feel sorry for that person. If that happened to me I would climb a tree and look for service to call for help. And if I was in the car then that day wouldn't be pretty.
okay there is something wrong with this how did they get the bear out of the car because why wouldn't it attack you this and how long was it be for they find out.
OK that is funny a bear getting in a car and going for a little ride. and how in the world did it get in the car anyways. at least the bear had fun for a while and got away with it.
ha ha ha thats hilarious .I wonder if that bear had fun?Maybe it scared the ''present'' out of him?ha ha. I wonder one more thing if the bear was only in there for the food and accidentally turn the key and hit the gas.
Do not leave food in the car. And have the car locked, If the car was locked then this would not of happened. I guess you will have to buy a new car.
It is not their fault,dustinqmvi they left food in the car and they left the door unlocked. Why would you even think that it was their fault that a bear got in their car??