Black Bears Break Into A Woman's Car, Steal Her Food

Don't leave your car windows open in the woods. This is what Kathy Gafford learned when she found two black bears, a mother and a cub, get into her car and steal her lunch.

People Magazine reports the Cabins For You inspector was completing a job in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, when she caught the bears crashing her car.

"The momma was in the driver's seat and baby was in the front passenger seat rummaging through everything I had in there. Momma got my lunch box first, which is a sturdy Playmate cooler, and tore it up trying to get to the food," she told People. "After finally getting it open, she ate everything I had in there. Then she crawled back into my car and got my purse and dragged it out. I'm hypoglycemic so I had a variety of snacks in my purse and she ate all of those, including my glucose tablets."

After eating all the munchies, mama bear just can't get enough and went on dragging Gafford's other stuff out of the car. After finding out there wasn't anything left, the mischievous bears just got out of the parked vehicle and sniffed around the property.

Instead of running away, Gafford took her camera and started taking pictures as the hungry bears desperately look for food. She also tried yelling the bears away, banging a pot and a pan to "scare" them.

"I knew if I wasn't posing as a threat to them they would not come after me. Momma just looked at me like she just wanted me to shut up because she wasn't going anywhere," she continued. 

Moments later, Gafford decided to call 911 and asked for help. "An officer came to my rescue. The sound of his taser gun scared the momma away, but not very far. She sat and watched as I picked up what was left of my things and got in my car!"

This bear incident isn't Gafford's first, though. "I stopped down the road a few hours earlier that same day for a bear to cross the street," she added. "I also got trapped by a baby bear a few weeks ago on the balcony of one of our cabins. I was sweeping off the balcony, and when I turned around, there was the bear. I was able to scare him away. He was very gentle."

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