High Sierra Topix

longri wrote: ↑Tue Oct 09, 2018 6:10 pmMy car was damaged in Yosemite twice. I'll never know why the bear chose my car on those occasions or what I could have done to prevent it.

Did your comprehensive rider cover this on your auto policy? I would think it would classify as "vandalism?" I always wondered about that.

John

My insurance covered it. The first time the bear didn't enter my car, it just tore off the side mirror and took a walk on the roof and hood. Other than the mirror it looked okay, but each footprint was actually a dent. The cost was nearly $2K but fully covered by insurance.

The second time my car was old enough I'd dropped the comprehensive insurance coverage. That time the bear went through the driver side window and yanked the rear seat down in order to see what (nothing) was in my trunk. I sewed up the torn part of the seat. Then I found a door at a salvage yard for $125. By luck was exactly the same color as the original. It took me a while but I eventually figured out how to install it. The hard part was replacing the lock core so that my key would work in it. Mechanics must use some sort of specialized tool for that.

That second time, did the bear yank down the window style from the top or pump on the window until it blew out?

Had a friend on my last trip ask if he should leave his windows down a bit on his Tacoma. Paul and I shouted, "NO!" Gives them leverage to rip out your window.

rlown wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:47 pm Gives them leverage to rip out your window.

And lets that last little bit of the scent from those fries you dropped under your seat in 2011 escape.

That time the bear went through the driver side window and yanked the rear seat down in order to see what (nothing) was in my trunk.

Had this happen to are car at Lodgepole (maybe 15 years ago), early in the morning, while coming back from the bathroom, bear was trying to pull down the back seat as we approached the vehicle. This bear had hit 6-7 cars that morning, biologist said, that once they get food from a car, they look at a car like a sardine can, no matter whether you did not leave any food or colorful items in eyesight or in the trunk (we had nothing in the car or trunk).

mrphil wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:44 pm That second time, did the bear yank down the window style from the top or pump on the window until it blew out?

The bear bent the whole door frame from the top until the window let go. I was able to bend the door back so that it close and open. But there was no way to put new glass in it.

maverick wrote: ↑Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:29 pmHad this happen to are car at Lodgepole (maybe 15 years ago), early in the morning, while coming back from the bathroom, bear was trying to pull down the back seat as we approached the vehicle. This bear had hit 6-7 cars that morning, biologist said, that once they get food from a car, they look at a car like a sardine can, no matter whether you did not leave any food or colorful items in eyesight or in the trunk (we had nothing in the car or trunk).

I don't know what to make of what happened in my case. The car right next to mine had fresh food visible on the front seat and it was left unscathed. Another car nearby had just the rear tail light torn off. I'm sure my car had all sorts of aromas but clearly this bear was not very discriminating. At the time I kind of wondered if it was a younger, less experienced bear. Who knows?

I asked one longtime local what I should do in the future to avoid this problem. He said, "Leave your car at home". So I think it's a good thing that the incident count has gone way down, even though I hardly go to the Valley any more. Worth noting, though, that both of my incidents were not counted.

So if you use the relatively low dollar amount for last season's property damage by bears in Yosemite and bears learning and practicing bad habits by treating just any old car like a "sardine can", food/scent or not, you've got to figure that there has to be a fair amount of euthanizing going on. Even just some place like the Valley, with all the campgrounds and parking areas to patrol and limited staff, but a comparatively bigger budget to do it than most other places, there's no way they're patrolling it all effectively, and even less chance that they're somehow succeeding in reteaching the bears.