HOMEWOOD, Calif. — Michael Sickle of Sacramento woke up on the Fourth of July like he does every morning, but what happened next was far from ordinary...
“Come to find out a bear had broken into my car. Looked to me like it had gotten stuck in there and freaked out and completely tore apart the interior of my vehicle,” said Sickle.
He and his family were staying at their cabin in Homewood on Lake Tahoe. It's something they’ve done for decades, so they’re no stranger to bear-proofing their belongings.
“We've gotten all the bear box protections, precautions,” explained Sickle. “We always take all the food out of our vehicles… we try to keep our cars completely free of gum, anything, any sort of fragrance. It still never fails. The bears seem like they're getting more confident and less afraid of us."
His sister, Mackenzie Sickle, posted the video to Instagram.
“A lot of people are shocked and asking questions like, 'Oh my gosh, a bear did that?' And it's like, 'Yeah!'" she said.
Her family spotted a big black bear in their neighborhood the day before. Although they don’t know if it was the same one who broke into the truck, it's just one more reminder bears are out and about in Tahoe-area neighborhoods.
“We just want to keep people aware and safety is big when you're in Tahoe,” she said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) says Tahoe visitors should dispose of garbage properly, using bear-proof bins; never approach a bear; don’t leave food in your vehicle, and do not feed the bears -- it’s actually illegal.
CDFW Supervising Wildlife Biologist Jason Holley said while 2022 is shaping up to be a typical year for bear activity, holiday weekends during the summer are when the department normally sees an uptick in bear activity since more visitors mean more trash for the bears to be attracted to.
“It makes sad evolutionary sense that they’d get their calories for the day in someone’s garbage or kitchen, if left unattended, versus foraging the forest looking for grubs, berries or grasses,” Holley said, adding it usually takes bears hours to forage for their daily calorie need, whereas they can achieve the same goal with one garbage can in a matter of minutes.
The CDFW has a site for bear tips here.
If you’re wondering about the truck, Sickle says it still runs.
“I had to drive it home, which was very loud with the sunroof wide open,” he said.
He has insurance and is in the process of filing a claim.
