Bear Seen Riding On Roof Of Garbage Truck In Pennsylvania

Oct 30, 2020

This world is full of strange things, but sometimes, even we are surprised about certain events. Earlier this month, a black bear was taped riding on top of a garbage truck in Pennsylvania. 

As if COVID-19, the wildfires out west, and even murder hornets weren't enough, now there is a new threat literally wandering around in various places. We probably shouldn't be surprised, really. But, a bear riding on a garbage truck?

This is the time of the year that bears in northern states start preparing for hibernation. They can eat upwards of 20,000 calories a day — that's ten times more than the average human eats in a day!

On top of the fact that they are gobbling up mass amounts of food in preparation for a long sleep —sounds lovely, doesn't it?— they are also moving more due to the pandemic.

It's true, folks! COVID-19 has people getting outdoors in nature more, so bears are also on the move and sightings are up. Still, a bear on top of a garbage truck is something we have not seen before now.

The Kidder Township Police, who caught the bear on camera in Carbon City, Pa., posted the pictures online. “We can only assume it was sick of going for the small, small amount of trash in the garbage pails and went for the big prize,” Officer Vincent Murrow said.

After he mounted the top of the garbage heap in the back of the truck, the bear began digging in it. We find so many things just wrong here, but then we are not bears in the wild.

First of all, a wild black bear's sheer size of up to 75 inches and 660 pounds, means that scaling the garbage truck heap is one heck of a feat! Then you simply have to consider a bear's olfactory senses.

Bears can actually smell up to 3,000 times better than humans, and sometimes that means sensing food over a mile away. You thought you had it rough being downwind of that garbage truck? Think about this bear inside the garbage truck. 

But, again, he's a bear and something must have appealed to him in the rubbish. He ended up riding atop the garbage truck all the way to the police station. Local police say bear sightings have gone up in the last year citing COVID-19 as the main reason.

Just this past July in the same county, a bear got into the backseat of a car and ate all the food inside of it. Though it isn't mentioned whether the car door was already ajar, it kind of makes you wonder if having an opposable thumb really matters at all.

What's even more puzzling than a bear climbing up onto a garbage truck is figuring out how the heck you get the bear down. They simply don't make instructions for this sort of thing, and as we've come to realize, this is just the way the year 2020 is going to go.

All we can say, is take a breath and hold on. It's only October and we have yet to see 2020's season finale, folks! Pass this incredible video with all of your animal-loving friends and family. We're certain, they will bear-ly be able to contain themselves.