It’s a rob-bear-y!
A mother bear and two cubs were caught red-handed stealing a cooler from the bed of a truck near Gatlinburg on Aug. 29.
The Schmidt family had just arrived at their Airbnb cabin when the three animals walked right up to the car. Video shows husband Brian Schmidt unloading the bags. The bears swiftly approached the truck, causing him to wisely back away from the vehicle. After all, he was outnumbered.
“We saw a mother bear with her two cubs a couple of miles down the road as we were driving in,” Kari Schmidt, who took the video, told Storyful. “The mom must have smelled our bag of food as we drove by because she was on a mission.”
The mother bear hops into the truck and nabs a cooler bag. “Hey, that’s our food!” someone shouts.
But it’s too late. The video shows the bears hastily dragging the cooler away from the cabin, into the trees beyond, to become a bear treasure trove.
Kari Schmidt said that she did not, in fact, get her cooler back.
“Mama bear took that cooler up the road and then down the hill,” Kari wrote to Knox News. “After we had everything unpacked, we went back to look, and it was gone.”
What do black bears eat?
Bears are not supposed to eat any human food, much less steal coolers full of it.
Black bears are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals, according to the National Park Service.
Most of a black bear’s diet consists of berries, fruit, sedges, and insects. However, bears also will eat fish, honeycomb and human food or trash.
As fall approaches, the City of Gatlinburg is asking residents to avoid using items such as pumpkins, gourds, squash, and loose corn as autumn and Halloween decor. These foods can attract black bears and may increase dangerous human and black bear interactions, according to the city.
What to do if you see a black bear in Gatlinburg
If you see a black bear in East Tennessee, do not approach it. For your safety and the safety of the animal, it is important that you keep your distance.
BearWise.org recommends a few basic guidelines to help keep people safe in a black bear encounter, depending on where you see the bear.
If the bear is in your backyard, remain a safe distance away and make loud noises to scare it away. Be sure it’s gone before letting any pets out or removing items that might have attracted it.
If the bear is in the woods, back away slowly and quietly. Never run, as that might trigger the bear’s chase response.
If you are approached by the bear, stand your ground and try to appear as large as possible. Make loud noises.
If a black bear charges you, use bear spray. If it makes contact, fight back using your surroundings. Do not play dead.
Allison Kiehl covers trending and breaking news from Knoxville for the Tennessee Connect Team. Email: allison.kiehl@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gatlinburg video shows black bears stealing cooler from truck. Watch