Squamish's Marcus Prokopiak got a "once in a lifetime" surprise early Tuesday morning when he went out to his Honda Pilot, which was in his carport.
A black bear with a “perplexed” look on his face was staring back at him from the front passenger seat.
"I'll never forget his face," said Prokopiak.
After taking a moment to consider his options, Prokopiak, owner of Perfect Painters, opened the door.
The medium-sized bear bolted.
"He flew out of there," Prokopiak recalled.
"There's a black and white bear running around Squamish,” he said.
"It was like a movie," he added, referencing the John Candy film The Great Outdoors, where the star has encounters with a bear, with it trying to get into the car.
The bruin, it turns out, had likely gotten into the vehicle for a Greek salad on the front seat—which it ate—and then must have tried to get out, bouncing around the vehicle a bit and right into a tray of white paint.
Given the bear was wet from the rain, the inside of the vehicle was "white-washed," Prokopiak said with a laugh.
The bear, too, had white paint on its fur.
He recalls hearing his three dogs barking a little before he went out to his vehicle, so he thinks the bear may have been in it for about 10 minutes.
While there is damage to the vehicle, to be sure—his sunroof doesn't work, and there is other scratching damage—Prokopiak has been able to clean and patch it up and can drive it.
Prokopiak isn't complaining.
The damage looked worse at first blush, he said.
Originally from New York, the Dentville resident, who has lived in Squamish for about 20 years, waited until his U.S. relatives were together celebrating their Thanksgiving to call and tell them about the incident.
They got a kick out of the very Canadian tale, he said.
Clean up, roll up, lock up
This story is a good reminder that black bears are typically most active from March to December but can be out and about all year long in Squamish (some may not hibernate if they find non-natural food sources, according to WildSafeBC) and will do what they can to access food, even if it is just a little Greek salad left on a car seat.
Here are some tips from bearwise.org.
- Clean out your vehicle when you get out of it. Don’t leave pet food, bird seed, snacks, trash, chewing gum, candy, scented air fresheners, sunscreen, lip balm, hand lotion or anything else with an odour inside, even for a few hours. Or sitting in the truck bed.
- Avoid scented air fresheners.
- Lock your doors and roll up and lock your windows, even if you’re just parked in your driveway.
