Albany bear puts himself in the driver’s seat

by Joseph Gresser

ALBANY — Sam Peters was worried when his wife, Kelly, told him she suspected someone had been trying to break into her truck.  When he saw the culprit early Friday morning, Mr. Peters said, he was relieved to see it was only a bear, who opened the door, sat in the front seat for a spell and peaceably wandered off.

In a conversation Saturday, Mr. Peters said he went to work around 6:30 a.m. on June 25.  When he came back his wife asked if he had been in her truck.

She had found a muddy print on the door handle.

Neither Mr. Peters nor the man he works with had been near the rig that morning.

“It made us on edge to think someone was prowling around,” Mr. Peters said.

A week later at 5 a.m., Mr. Peters was enjoying a cup of coffee and checking out a photo of a bear seen in Craftsbury that a friend had posted online.

When he looked up he saw a bear in his yard very near his house eyeing his wife’s truck.

“He looked like he was vehicle shopping,” Mr. Peters said.  “He took a bite off the pear tree, stood up and opened the door.”

The bear coolly climbed into the driver’s seat, sat down, and looked out the window.

Mr. Peters said he went up to wake his wife.  As a joke, he told her he thought someone was in the truck.

“She put her glasses on and looked,” he said.  “Then she said, I don’t recognize that person.”

When the bear climbed out of the truck, she understood why.

Mr. Peters said he and his wife are relieved to have their concerns about a human prowler allayed.  The bear, which did no harm to the truck, is welcome to return, he said.

Despite the initial assumptions of those he has told the story, there was no food or anything else inside the truck that might explain the bear’s interest in the vehicle.

Mr. Peters said there were a couple of packs of gum, but the bear didn’t disturb them.

He shot several photographs of his unexpected visitor opening the door and climbing in, and said he will try to get some video in the unlikely event of a return visit.

Mr. Peters said some of his friends have offered ideas, such as spraying ammonia around the truck, to stop the bear from visiting again, but he isn’t interested.

“If he wants to hang out there, it’s fine with me,” he said.

“We’re taking up their space as much as they are ours,” Mr. Peters said.  “I would prefer it if he didn’t come into the house, and I may take the keys out of the truck,” he added.