With an estimated 6,000 black bears in Tennessee alone, according to recent statistics, there’s always a very small chance of bumping into one when you’re out and about. Recently, a group on holiday booked an Airbnb near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but their stay was interrupted by an unexpected visitor. Indeed, a black bear was captured on film opening the front door and entering the Airbnb, or should I say “Bearbnb” as the description on Reddit amusingly refers to it as. It even roams around for a bit and opens a fridge door with its paw. Thankfully, no one was hurt during the encounter, but the footage is circulating online right now.
The wild video takes place inside the Airbnb and is amusingly accompanied by the Jet2Holiday theme song. In it, we see the black bear nonchalantly wandering around the kitchen and the living room, it even stares at the camera for a few moments, though it thankfully doesn’t get too aggressive. It appears like the bear is attempting to find a way back out, but funnily enough, it does head into the kitchen and opens a fridge door while standing on its hind legs.
A person can be seen in the shot a few times trying to film the bear as well with their phone. After opening the fridge, the bear climbs up onto the kitchen counter and tries to open a window to exit the property but to no avail. Instead, it heads back towards the front door, and using its paw, it opens the door and leaves.
As the stunning video continues to gain traction, social media users dived into the comments to share their thoughts on the scary encounter. Over on TikTok, one commenter wrote, “The bear opening doors like that’s his house 😭” while another added, “Must be Gatlinburg Tennessee!” Others, meanwhile, couldn’t believe that they were brave enough to film the bear, with one penning, “How are yall just chilling I’d be terrified calling cops or something 😭” Over on Reddit, a commenter jokingly referenced the 1988 classic comedy The Great Outdoors, writing, “Where is John Candy when you need him?“
Fortunately, black bears are widely considered less aggressive and more docile than their brown counterparts. Still, I wouldn’t want to mess with one, especially if it’s as large as the one in this video.
