That rooftop cargo carrier might have been water proof, but it sure as heck wasn’t bear proof.
It’s estimated that 340,000 bears live in the United States, and in certain parts of the country, residents have to always be on alert and keep an eye out for bears. Black bears make up most of that total number (around 300,000), and one place where you are almost guaranteed to see them is in Lake Tahoe, California.
Most of the time, you’d prefer to have an encounter with a black bear from a distance. The farther away you stay from a wild bear, the better. There’s also the hope that if you don’t mess with a bear, they won’t mess with you. But as you’ll see in this video, that’s not always the case.
Bears tend to be pretty nosy creatures, and though they have been known to get violent when provoked (or if their cubs are messed with), they’re usually just curious. And sometimes that means getting into a little trouble, in most cases because they are searching for food. That’s normally the main cause for any bear interacting with humans, and that likely played a role in this video.
The social media account that posted the video guessed that there was something scented being stored in the car-top storage. What that might be is unclear, but there had to be something that smelled good for the bear to hop up on the top of the car to start digging in. The hard casing of the cargo carrier was no match for the bear’s sharp claws and pure strength. It made short work of the storage container and popped it open with ease.
I can only imagine the car owner’s surprise when they got back. They first probably thought that someone broke into their car top. Then, after some investigation (and maybe a nearby Lake Tahoe visitor/resident showing them a video) and seeing the claw marks, they would have known it was a bear. Especially if the animal made off with whatever it was going after, and it looks like it probably did so judging by this video:
“Bears will go after ANYTHING scented… chapstick, car fresheners, kid snacks, and coolers that look like they might have something good in them! So unload it, lock your car and keep our bears safe.”
@truckeetahoe Your springtime Truckee/Tahoe PSA… bears will go after ANYTHING scented… chapstick, car fresheners, kid snacks, and coolers that look like they might have something good in them! So unload it, lock your car and keep our 🐻 safe! #tahoebears #bears #truckee #wildlife #fyp ♬ Hello baby bear – TokTok
Rule of thumb: If you travel into “Bear Country,” just expect for bears to do regular, bear things, and try your best to avoid unintentionally luring them in.
