Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A Peninsula woman vacationing in California captured video of the moment a bear fled from the back of her SUV after spending up to seven hours inside the vehicle.
Vicky Costantini, 49, of Redwood City, Pa., said she was visiting her vacation home in Arnold, a small community in Calaveras County, Calif., when she made an early morning discovery about her Range Rover SUV.
"There were lots of lights going off, the hazards were on. The car was honking. We need to open it to figure out what was in there," Costantini told KTVU-TV.
Costantini and her friends used the key fob to open the hatch and a bear emerged from the back of the vehicle. Costantini posted a video of the bear's emergence to TikTok.
"It was foamy at the mouth when it came out. It was probably very dehydrated from having been in there so long. It was pretty desperate to get out," Costantini said.
Costantini said the vehicle, which had been left unlocked the night before, was destroyed inside. She said there was a can of Altoids in the SUV when the bear entered, but the animal didn't touch it.
"I often say a bear ate my car. It is destroyed," said Costantini,"It ripped apart the dash. It was trying to get through the car. Every single door panel is destroyed. Every single seat is ripped. But the worse part was the smell."