Black Bear Shreds Car Interior

A northern Ontario woman will most likely be paying out of pocket to repair the massive amount of damage caused by a black bear that broke into her Honda Civic and then took a nap.

The bear shredded her car’s interior and even left behind droppings.

Kayla Seward, who lives on Larder Lake near the Quebec border, told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca that the bear has been causing havoc for her since last year.

"It's done this before," Seward said.

"We had a bear last year break through my car window, so the ministry [of Natural Resources and Forestry] trapped it and relocated it and it came back with revenge."

She said the bear returned to her off-grid home last week and broke into her, her husband's, and mother-in-law's cars. She knows it’s the same bear from the previous year because of its tag.

"Apparently, the bears are attracted to foam, that's why they eat four-wheeler seats and stuff I was told," Seward said.

She said last week, her husband's car door was propped open by his work gear and the bear got into his car and chewed the back seat before it left.

MNRF tried to re-trap it last week but was unsuccessful.

"Last week, the ministry received calls about a nuisance bear in the Larder Lake area," MNRF spokesperson Sarah Fig told CTV News in an email.

"Staff attended the site and attempted to locate the bear over several days."

After the trap was removed, the bear returned and got into her car.

"It used its mouth and pulled the handle and the door must have closed behind it," Seward said.

Around midnight on June 11, some noise woke her up and she discovered the sleepy bear inside her vehicle.

"It's hard to see, but the bear is sleeping in the front passenger seat," Seward said about the video, which shows the animal nodding off against the exposed yellow driver's seat foam.

Her husband opened the door to free the bear.

"It popped its head out the door, looked around, saw my husband standing there, and took off," Seward said.

"I stayed in the house for that part."

A video she recorded the next morning shows the extensive damage caused by the bear.

To make matters worse, Seward said her auto insurance provider won’t cover the damage because it wasn’t caused by the car hitting the bear. "I was informed that we're not covered by insurance because we don't have full coverage," she said.