Re: Bear crashes Prius in Tahoe

Apparently this bear broke in, couldn't get out initially, and ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral.

Black bear steals, crashes car in Lake Tahoe
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/bizarre&id=8343613

Tahoe Bear Destroys Prius
Bear in Lake Tahoe attempts to take car on overnight joy ride.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Tahoe-Bear-Destroys-Prius-129315578.html

Hmmmm, wonder if this is the same bear that I found sitting in my driver's seat in my SUV parked at Upper Twin Lake west of Bridgeport, Ca.?

From the article:

"They said the only things inside the vehicle were a beach towel, some CDs and a phone charger."

Must of been a teenage bear. And I'm stealing this comment from one of the linked articles but maybe the bear needed to charge his phone...

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chicagocwright
From the article:

"They said the only things inside the vehicle were a beach towel, some CDs and a phone charger."

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the the beach towel possibly scented with suntan lotion that attracted the bear.

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plawrence

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chicagocwright
From the article:

"They said the only things inside the vehicle were a beach towel, some CDs and a phone charger."

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the the beach towel possibly scented with suntan lotion that attracted the bear.

Was there something in the article that suggested the Bear was a coastal (beach) bear? He was far away from home in Tahoe.

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chicagocwright

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plawrence

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chicagocwright
From the article:

"They said the only things inside the vehicle were a beach towel, some CDs and a phone charger."

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the the beach towel possibly scented with suntan lotion that attracted the bear.

Was there something in the article that suggested the Bear was a coastal (beach) bear? He was far away from home in Tahoe.

Tahoe has lots of beaches.

Anyone else have a hard time believing there wasn't anything scented in the car?

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Sandpiper11
Anyone else have a hard time believing there wasn't anything scented in the car?

You never know. I doubt there's a car in the Tahoe area that doesn't have some sort of smell that might attract a bear.

Most bears have a threshold. Some might find something in a particular vehicle, and try and replicate it with the same model car.

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y_p_w

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Sandpiper11

Anyone else have a hard time believing there wasn't anything scented in the car?

You never know. I doubt there's a car in the Tahoe area that doesn't have some sort of smell that might attract a bear.

Most bears have a threshold. Some might find something in a particular vehicle, and try and replicate it with the same model car.

Yup, the infamous "Camaro Bear" of Yosemite comes to mind. No Camaro or Firebird was safe that summer.

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

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eeek

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

I'm not sure Prius is a real car.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron

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eeek

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

I'm not sure Prius is a real car.

Just because it doesn't slurp gas like your SUV does?

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eeek

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mrcondron

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eeek

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

I'm not sure Prius is a real car.

Just because it doesn't slurp gas like your SUV does?

For your information my Burb does not slurp gas, it drinks it nicely.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron

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eeek

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

I'm not sure Prius is a real car.

It would seem that, historically, the bar hasn't been set too high for that designation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zastava_Koral

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eeek

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y_p_w
ripped apart the gear shift to the point where it started rolling in neutral

Prius doesn't have a real gear shift. So I don't see how that could happen.

I don't necessarily buy the "gear shift" argument, but the photos show that the bear really trashed the interior and ripped apart everything. I would think that enough of that and whatever was keeping the car from moving (maybe the parking brake mechanism) got trashed.