Hungry bears drawn to car egged by pranksters on Halloween weekend, NC video shows

The age-old Halloween prank of throwing eggs took an odd turn this week in North Carolina, when a man discovered the lingering smell was attracting hungry bears.

Michael Ruiz posted video showing not one, but three bears were outside his Asheville home, with their noses and tongues pressed to one of the family’s cars.

Ruiz blamed “early Halloween pranksters” for luring the bears, according to his Nov. 3 YouTube video. Black bears have a keen sense of smell and “can pick up a scent from over a mile away,” wildlife experts say.

“The ... car was hit with eggs driving on Kimberly Avenue the Friday before and the owners washed the car when they got home, having some trouble getting all the egg odor out,” Ruiz wrote.

The three bears lingered nearly 10 minutes, starting with one cub sniffing the back bumper. It then climbs onto the roof, which inspires another young bear to join.

They eventually realize the car is not edible and resort to wrestling atop the car — which gets the attention of a larger bear that was likely their mother.

However, instead of calling off her kids, the larger bear joins in and starts trying to pull the top of the trunk off the vehicle.

It’s at that point someone inside the home starts pounding on the window, telling the bears to “Get!”

They leave — very reluctantly — and are last seen wandering through the nearby woods.

The Honda Civic under siege belongs to Ruiz’s son and daughter-in-law, who were out on a date on Oct. 29 when the car was hit by “a barrage of eggs,” according to the Asheville Citizens Times.

He’s the one who can be heard trying to scare the bears, while standing safely behind a window in the garage, the newspaper reported.

His video has racked up more than 11,000 views and comments as of Friday morning, including a lot of jokes about the cubs viewing the car as “a large garbage can.”

“From stealing bird food to jacking cars,” one YouTube commenter wrote.

“Nothing like watching some bears wrestle on your car in the morning,” another said.

Some commenters saw the video as troublesome and warned of dangers ahead if the bears continue feeling safe in yards.

”You have a serious bear problem in that area that needs to be addressed before someone is mauled or killed,’ one posted.

Ruiz’s YouTube channel is devoted to bear videos, along with other wildlife native to the Asheville area.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Hungry bears drawn to car egged by pranksters on Halloween weekend, NC video shows."