Video surfaces to prove NC bear can open car door with his sticky little paws

North Carolinians have been claiming for weeks that bears were opening car doors and slipping behind the driver’s seat. Now comes proof.

An Asheville family actually filmed a rascally young bear sauntering up the driveway and opening their car door, and the bear made it look easy.

The video, filmed by teen Ethan Gilliam, first appeared on NC station WLOS and you can hear the stunned reactions of family members as they watched.

The bear is seen standing up on two legs, leaning against the car with one hand and opening the back door with the other. And the bear shows now surprise at what it did. In fact, it uses one paw to push the door open wider.

“This bear’s in your car!” one person is heard yelling on the video. “It’s inside the car!”

“How did he do that?” another person asked on the video.

Luckily, the bear did not linger in the vehicle, as has been the case elsewhere in the state.

To see the video, click here.

UPI reported the Ethan’s father, Hank Gilliam, said the video was filmed Monday, when bears in the area are more active due to garbage pickup taking place the following morning.

In at least two instances, bears have opened vehicles in North Carolina, and accidentally locked themselves inside. The owners learned of this the yard way, when they heard someone honking their car horns.

The animals ripped the interiors to shreds trying to escape.

Blue Ridge Public Safety, based in Sapphire, posted a warning about the break-ins on Facebook last month. “Bears can open car doors,” said the post. “We have received several reports of bears destroying vehicles, so please take the time to lock your car doors.” Experts say bears are following their nose to wrappers, crumbs and candy left in vehicles.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 6:39 AM with the headline "Video surfaces to prove NC bear can open car door with his sticky little paws."