WATCH: Residents living in Sooke expect to see deer, or even the occasional bear, passing through their property. But in a CHEK News exclusive, we’ll share the wildlife encounters had by neighbours this morning, which were far beyond the ordinary. Mary Griffin reports.
At first, Sooke resident Corrine Paul didn’t understand why her car door was open on Thursday morning. But it didn’t take long to realize what had happened.
“When my husband came it was wide open against his car,” Paul said.
“For about a second I thought something’s not right here. And it took me a moment to figure out what was wrong,” Paul said.
Paul figured it wasn’t someone who rifled through her car looking for valuables. Paul pointed to evidence left behind.
“There are actually claw marks, four little scratch marks from nails,” Paul said.
A bear managed to get into her parked car. Paul said the animal took a piece of the door and opened the car door with its paw.
“So that’s the unnerving part. When it gets to that point, you expect to lock your car against humans, not bears,” Paul said.
The bear got in and checked out the inside,” Paul said.
“She’s smart. This bear is smart. I can only presume it’s a female because she had a little one with her. But smart. Very smart bear.”
Then Paul thinks the bear left her property and went to her neighbours. “I’ve seen them come this way before, and then to the neighbours. They got the door open,” Paul said.
Marg Ayres and her husband woke up at 6 a.m. and saw a shocking sight outside the bedroom window. A mother bear had opened their shed door. Her cub was inside while she paced outside.
“Yeah, it’s just all the stuff from our food bin,” Ayres said while looking over the damage done by the bears. “It was a momma bear and a baby bear. And the baby bear was inside helping himself. And the mom was outside basically just walking back and forth, like she was keeping watch,” Ayres said.
After breaking into a car, and then a shed, the question for Ayres is, what’s next?
“If they can break into this, what’s to keep them from getting into your house, I guess if they don’t smell anything. But it makes you feel a little insecure,” Ayres said.
Eventually, the animals moved along and Ayres is hoping these bears have got their fill of the criminal life.
Mary Griffin
