This mama bear couldn’t huff and puff and blow out a North Carolina family’s SUV window – but she finally managed to break through the windshield about six hours after getting stuck inside.
Ashely McGowin awoke early Thursday and noticed that her hazard lights were blinking when she let her dogs outside, WLOS reported.
“They started barking as if something was out in the yard,” McGowin told the news outlet.
She then noticed that a large black bear was inside her vehicle and took video of the strange sight.
“I captured a few moments after the mom [bear] punched through my front windshield,” McGowin said after watching the animal crawling through the window, climbing on top of the vehicle and running away with her cubs.
Her 10-year-old son Seth McGowin told WLOS that “it’s just surprising because that doesn’t happen every day.”
McGowin was awoken early Thursday by the bear. WRALAshely said she believes the bear may have gotten inside the vehicle after she left the door unlocked. High winds from a storm Wednesday night could have slammed the door shut.
“Bears are in our yard frequently, but they stay to themselves,” she said, adding that the animal may have been trapped inside for some six hours.
McGowin started capturing the incident shortly after she realized what was going on. WLOS“It was very distressing for me to see the mama bear in distress and suffering inside my car,” Ashely told the outlet.
But Seth now has a perfect excuse for his teacher, saying the bear got hold of his school assignment.
The car was destroyed by the bear. WLOS“The bear, sadly, peed on the book I was reading at school and ate my homework,” he said.
As for the SUV, it was deemed a total loss by the family’s insurance company.
McGowin said it’s not uncommon for bears to appear in their yard, but “they stay to themselves.” Ashley McGowin