Nest Security Footage: Grinch Bear Ruins Christmas Decorations
OutdoorHub Editor: Keenan Crow 12.24.20
A black bear in Virginia with an apparent disdain for holiday cheer was caught on a Nest security system wrecking a family’s inflatable Santa display.
According to Fox 5 DC, residents in a Fairfax County neighborhood had been experiencing a string of ‘vandalism’ the past few weeks, reporting several of their front yard Christmas decorations being slashed overnight.
One resident, Melissa Ashby, said she found her Santa flying a helicopter display gashed and deflated. However, upon reviewing her Nest security camera that surveys the family’s home, Ashby discovered the vandalism was actually the work of a furry culprit.
The bear can be seen on video as it wanders onto the Ashby’s lawn late one evening, before giving old Saint Nick a curious swipe with its razor sharp claws.
Bear Humbug!
Fairfax County and Virginia wildlife officials say neighbors in the Fairfax Station area actually reported sightings of a bear in November. Whether or not the same bear is responsible for these ‘Grinch-like’ actions is unclear at this point.
The family is left to wonder, however, if this Grinch bear may have been involved in damaging their trash cans over the last few weeks, as well as attacks on other decorations throughout the neighborhood.
State and county officials have warned residents to help steer bears away by covering up their trash and not to leave out any bird seed.
