This Mom Bear is a total G–a real power player. If she wants something, she doesn’t politely ask, she just takes it. This Tennessee Black Bear rolled up on a vacationing family’s truck, saw something enticing, and her babies were starving. Was she just going to sit there and let them starve? Nope! With two cubs flanking her like her own personal furry hype squad, she hoisted that cooler on down while humans pointlessly yelled at her!
Let’s be real? Who’s going to stop her? At around six feet in length and anywhere between 100-200 lbs., and two furry babies with some very sharp teeth backing her up, I don’t think anyone’s itching to get involved. No sandwich is worth that fight!
I love how the woman’s yelling ‘Hey, hey, hey, hey! That’s our food!’ in such a reasonable manner while the cooler is in Mom Bear’s teeth, like she’s just going to be all ‘Oops! My bad! Didn’t realize I was just totally jacking this out of the back of your truck.’
Everybody is amused at Mom Bear’s antics in the beginning, when the guy was standing by the truck, and she sort of reminded him who was boss by slamming her paws down.
Michele said, ‘Mama Bear slammed that truck and gave the look of “back yo azz up.”‘
What Do You Do if a Bear Is Stealing Your Tuna Salad Sandwich?
IMAGO / Westend61
A bear has a sense of smell 2,100 times better than a human, so if you have food in your vehicle, they’re going to smell it. Bears have also learned to associate humans and cars with food due to prior experiences, so the key is–just don’t leave food in your car if you can avoid it.
Related: Video of Grizzly Bear Destroying Campers’ Tent After Up-Close Encounter Is Wild
But the unexpected happens. If it does, back away and leave slowly. Get yourself and anyone with you to a safe location. From there, you can make as much noise as possible and try to scare the bear away. Scream, bang things together, throw rocks. As you saw in this case, it might be futile, but it also might discourage them from making a further move toward you. NEVER approach a bear.
Mama Bear and her babies came, took the goods and left. The family stayed safe. And that’s the best kind of ending you can hope for when wild animals show up uninvited.
This story was originally reported by PetHelpful on Sep 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.