“Welcome to Gatlinburg!” Gretchen Fitzsimmons captions her post. She’s a humble realtor in Tennessee. Case in point: she’s only lightly active on TikTok, mostly sharing a few moments with her family, friends, and community. She probably wasn’t expecting 4.5 million views last week, but that’s what happens when an American black bear breaks into your Nissan Xterra and rips the living daylights out of it.
It seems like after watching her daughter graduate, the family headed to Gatlinburg to kick off the summer. One morning, Fitzsimmons records a bear sighting that’s a bit too close for comfort: right outside their front door. I can tell by the labels on the light switches that they might be in a local Airbnb.
Unfortunately, the bear doesn’t just go away.
The bear situation quickly escalates
Fitzsimmons posted what happened next…and the video went viral.
The bear somehow got into the Nissan SUV, which appears to be the recent grad’s ride. It completely ruined the interior.
Notably, the bear tore down the headliner and “relieved” itself in the right rear door panel.
Ultimately, a local police officer arrived and helped the family release the bear.
A final video shows the event from start to finish.
You can bet the comments lit up
“Imagine having to explain to insurance that a bear ate your car”
“I always wondered what car chairs were made of. now we all know”
“He’s just lookin for picnic baskets”
“Dang! Happens every single day in and around Gatlinburg and Sevier County. Can’t stress enough Always Lock Doors and Never Leave Food. So many bears are unfortunately being euthanized because of the carelessness of others.”
That last comment is true:
Around 1,500 American black bears roam Gatlinburg, TN
That’s about two per square mile. So, if you’re out there hiking, there’s probably a native bear close by.
If the family has full coverage on the Nissan, comprehensive insurance will take care of the damage. However, the brand stopped making Xterras in 2015. This makes opting for full coverage less motivating for current owners. Not only that, but the bear damage likely totaled the car. I doubt this is worth fixing…which is a bummer, since these SUVs are more and more hard to find out in the wild, so-to-speak.
