<\/p>\n
A black bear mauled the inside of a small SUV early Wednesday in the Forest Lakes subdivision, likely a temper tantrum after it got locked inside the vehicle.<\/p>\n
Kourtney Anderson, 17, said she was asleep about 1:30 a.m. when she heard an intermittent car horn honking outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I thought it was just some crazy guy driving past the roads honking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kourtney got up and looked outside and saw her mother\u2019s 2003 Honda Pilot with its lights on and windows fogged up. She sent a series of text messages to her mother, Kaylie Smith, trying to get her to wake up.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething is in the car and just woke me up, like crazy,\u201d she texted at 1:30 a.m. \u201cThe car honked so long. It\u2019s a bear!\u201d<\/p>\n
The bear apparently figured out how to open the car door and get inside, but in doing so, also managed to close the door behind it. In an effort to free itself, the bear tore apart a passenger door until it opened. No windows were broken during the trespass.<\/p>\n
Kourtney said she was too scared to go outside, so she kept sending late-night text messages to her mother, updating her of the situation. She didn\u2019t want to knock on her mom\u2019s door.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe hasn\u2019t been getting much sleep lately,\u201d Kourtney said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be rude.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the bear freed itself and the commotion died down, Kourtney ventured outside to assess the damage.<\/p>\n
She sent more text messages to her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cOMG mom, OMG. I just checked it out,\u201d she texted. \u201cThe entire passenger-side door is completely torn up. You can\u2019t even shut the door. It\u2019s so bad mom, you\u2019re going to freak out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident lasted for 1\u00bd to 2 hours.<\/p>\n
Smith woke up at 5 a.m. to see her daughter\u2019s text messages.<\/p>\n
Smith said the car was cleaned last weekend, and there was no food inside. To add insult to injury, her boyfriend had made repairs and performed routine maintenance to the vehicle that same night.<\/p>\n
The bear tore apart door panels, seat upholstery and ceiling mesh and left scat in the backseat, Smith said.<\/p>\n
She hopes her car insurance covers the damage.<\/p>\n
It is not unheard of for bears to break into cars. But usually they are motivated by the smell of food, said Bryan Peterson, executive director of Bear Smart Durango<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce bears find a food reward in a vehicle, they\u2019ll search other vehicles looking for the same,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce it gets started, it\u2019s really difficult to change that bear\u2019s behavior. It typically ends with damage, insurance claims and likely the death of a bear.\u201d<\/p>\n He encouraged residents to lock their car doors and keep all food out of vehicles, including gum and beverages.<\/p>\n He also reminded residents to remove bird feeders, which entice bears to approach homes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re basically training bears to come right up to your home, and that leads to future problems,\u201d Peterson said.<\/p>\n