Watch: Bear destroys family car in Northern California after getting trapped inside
The bear became locked inside the family’s Subaru until it was freed when the owners shot a window out. The interior of the car was left in shambles and the family doesn’t have insurance.
Bear completely shreds family vehicle
A Subaru was destroyed by a bear in Northern California after becoming trapped in the car.
FOREST RANCH, Cailf. – Video and photos show what happened when a curious bear became trapped in a Northern California family’s car last week.
Video captured by Amanda Wells on May 1 showed the bear poking around their porch in Forest Ranch, California before it entered the Subaru. The next clip showed the bear inside the car with the lights flashing and noises of chaos inside the vehicle.
Wells said that the bear eventually became hot and exhausted. Worried that the animal might die in the car, Wells' husband used a pellet gun to shoot the driver’s window out, allowing the bear to escape.
A video taken the next day showed the interior of the car ripped to shreds, with most of the interior panels destroyed and the steering wheel shredded.
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According to the GoFundMe that Wells started, the car was used to take their children to school and for her daily commute to work.
"Funds had been pretty tight, so we weren’t able to make our insurance payment, and it got canceled, so we unfortunately have no way to get reimbursement for the totaled car," Wells wrote.
The damages to Amanda Wells' Subaru after a bear entered the vehicle in Forest Ranch, California.
(Amanda Wells via GoFundMe)
The family has raised $2,190 of the $3,000 fundraiser goal.
A quick internet search showed that this is not the first – and certainly won’t be the last time – a bear has become trapped in a vehicle and caused significant damage.
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), bears are food-motivated and will investigate and consume "whatever seems like food." The CDFW receives thousands of black bear sighting reports every year, many of which escalate into property damage, like what happened to the Wells family car.
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According to CDFW, the best way to avoid these conflicts if you live in a community with bears is to install electric fencing and remove food attractants and food access.
Last year, CDFW began offering residents in North Central California "unwelcome mats" – electric mats that deliver an electric shock when bears get too close to a home.