At three o’clock in the morning, Sharon Rosel was woken up by her dogs barking. Shortly thereafter, she heard a noise “that sounded like a gunshot,” the Canadian told the Coast Reporter. Stepping onto the balcony of her home in Earls Cove, British Columbia, she immediately saw where the noise was coming from. A black bear had smashed one of her car windows and was looting her groceries.
The day before, Sharon Rosel had bought a total of 72 cans of lemonade for her food truck – which the bear ate quite greedily. The animal first drank the orange soda before plunging into coke and root beer, the woman told Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He only left three cans: they contained Diet Coke. The Canadian tried to scare the bear away with cold water, but to no avail. So she spent an hour and a half on the balcony watching the bear break the cans open with his teeth and slurp the contents.
Large amounts of the sugary drinks were spilled in her car, so that the vehicle was then completely soaked in lemonade. The bear also shredded the leather seats and broke off the window regulator handle. The snack bar owner hopes that the insurance company will cover part of the damage.
Having lived in the remote area for a long time, Sharon Rosel is actually familiar with bears and is careful not to leave groceries in the car, especially after a bear has been in hers because of cracker scraps stuck in the folds of a child seat car was broken into. “I never thought he could smell through cans,” the Canadian told the Coast Reporter. But: “Bears can be attracted to the slightest smell in your car, like a candy wrapper or a scented air freshener,” warns the Sunshine Coast Bear Alliance.
The organization is advising residents to keep their vehicle windows closed and doors locked. In Sharon Rosel’s case, that didn’t stop the bear from gaining access to the sugar kick. The bear returned the following night. But this time the dog scared the intruder away – who would have found no food the second time anyway. So that others can learn from her mistake, the Canadian shared photos of the incident on social networks. “Never underestimate your sense of smell,” she warns.
Quellen:CBC, “Coast Reporter”, Sunshine Coast Bear Alliance
