As Sean McQuillan lay sleeping next to his wife around 3 a.m., two pugs dozing at the end of the bed, his phone started to buzz┬аwith call after call.┬аA trio of RCMP cruisers soon pulled up in front of the family home in Coquitlam, B.C. Pajama-clad neighbours stood groggy but wide-eyed at their windows, filming the reason for it all.
Two gangly black bears were rummaging┬аthrough the McQuillan’s grey Chevy Tahoe, which┬аwas parked in their driveway.┬аThe driver’s side and rear passenger doors were flung open as the animals worked under the┬аstreetlight.
McQuillan, his wife, their two young children and both dogs missed the entire thing.
“They sleep blissfully through this entire ordeal, as [did] we,” McQuillan said, referring to pugs Winston and Hannah.
Bears likely in search of food
McQuillan detailed┬аthe story on┬аTwitter early Friday.
He and RCMP┬аbelieve the┬аtwo bears got into his unlocked car┬аin search of food тАФ┬аparticularly, McQuillan suspects, the scraps┬аhis┬аtwo-and-a-half-year-old son, Maverick, had chucked┬аall over┬аthe back seat.
No one was hurt, but the animals┬аleft┬аbehind dusty paw prints,┬аa┬аmangled carseat┬аand the lingering┬аodour of bear┬атАФ┬аwhich┬аMcQuillan described as being┬а“like much thicker wet-dog smell.”┬а
Neighbours who heard the commotion┬аtried repeatedly to reach the family by phone and through a neighbourhood WhatsApp group. One witness saw the garage door was also wide┬аopen and called police.
WATCH |┬аSurveillance footage captured the bears wandering the cul-de-sac:
Surveillance cameras and incredulous neighbours captured a small black bear breaking into a SUV in Coquitlam, B.C., early Thursday morning. 0:38
By the time RCMP┬аarrived, the bears had gone. Officers knocked on the front door and joined the list of people trying┬аto phone the family. Still, the entire household┬аslept through the night.
“We wake up in the morning to find all of these messages┬аsaying, ‘What happened? What’s going on?’┬аWe’re like, ‘Uh, I don’t know what’s going on,’ ” McQuillan┬аsaid.
One neighbour started sending footage┬аfrom their security camera to fill in the blanks.
“There’s three or four police officers [in the video] driving up the cul-de-sac and they’re all in front of our house,” McQuillan said.
“Eventually you see this weird figure on the back of our vehicle and the figure gets on all four paws. And that’s where we realized it was just a very skinny juvenile bear.”
Bear break-ins rare, but not impossible
McQuillan saw the damage for himself when he went down to the garage.
“Our car is all torn apart on the inside …┬аthere’s garbage from inside the garage pulled and strewn everywhere,” he said.┬а
“They absolutely used the handle,” he said, referring to how the bears got into the SUV. “You can see a paw print on the corner of the driver’s side door.”
Unable to reach the family, RCMP officers┬аsecured the garage and vehicle тАФ catching an unlucky┬аwhiff of the┬а“distinct wild animal bouquet”тАФ┬аbefore leaving the scene.
Bears have gotten into cars in B.C. before, including as recently as last year,┬аbut RCMP said it’s rare to see two of the animals doing so at once.
“This is a very uncommon call,” said RCMP officer Const. John Graham.
Officers reiterated the importance of locking up vehicles to protect them from thieves┬атАФ┬аhuman or otherwise.
“The Coquitlam RCMP would like to encourage bears, and people, to not enter, or drive for that matter, any vehicle without the permission of the registered owner,” Graham said.
As for the family, McQuillan said he has some explaining to do with┬аhis insurer, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
“Now to see if ICBC covers bear,” he tweeted.┬а
