Woman Shares Horror Encounter With 'Aggressive' Bear Who Broke Into Her Car

A black bear broke into a woman's car in British Columbia, Canada, and drank 69 cans of Orange Crush.

Sharon Rosel was first alerted to the pilfering predator at 3 a.m. on April 13. "I looked out into the yard and saw a large male bear had broken into my car and was drinking soda that I had picked up for my food truck," Rosel told Newsweek.

"I could see that the bear had smashed the window and as I watched him going in and out of the vehicle, I could see he was doing more and more damage."

Rosel watched from her balcony in disbelief as the enormous bear tore its way through 69 cans of soda and her custom-made car.

"The bear broke the window, poured Orange Crush all over my white leather seats, absolutely saturated the bottom of my vehicle, and punctured the leather interior with his nails. He also tore off the window handle [...] and ripped the leather canopy."

Rosel called her husband, who was away in Vancouver at the time, to ask for help. "He suggested getting a big bucket of cold water and pouring it over his head," she said. "I did that to no avail. He seemed to enjoy a shower, which is reasonable because he's been asleep for five months.

"I watched him for about 40 minutes trying everything I could to reason with him. I even told him I was a bear hunter."

Although it was painful to watch, Rosel knew she could not intervene. "The bear was in a confined area and had a food source so he could be aggressive," she said. "With tears in my eyes, I had to go back inside and I couldn't watch my custom-made car be torn to pieces."

According to the government of British Columbia, black bears are the most commonly encountered large carnivore in the province. The males can weigh up to 500 pounds, although their size will greatly depend on food availability.

At this time of the year, the bears have just emerged from their dens after hibernation and are on the hunt for food.

According to the National Park Service, bears consider anything with a scent to be "food." This includes sealed bottles, soaps, cosmetics, trash and, of course, soda cans.

Rosel said that she and her neighbors in Earls Cove were well aware of the bears in their area and made every effort to lock away garbage and other food sources so as not to attract the animals to their properties.

"I had no idea that they could smell pop through cans and even if they could, I had no idea they would want to drink 69 of them," she said.