Bear mauls interior of Mercedes parked at California ski resort

July 7 (UPI) -- A couple on a ski trip to California's Mammoth Mountain left their car parked overnight and awoke to find the inside had been mauled by a bear.

David Herndon said he and his wife took a Fourth of July trip to Mammoth Mountain and left their car unlocked when it was parked overnight.

They awoke to find a bear had apparently opened a door, climbed inside the car, and found itself temporarily trapped inside.

The bear ripped up the seats and steering wheel inside the car and even defecated before finding its way out of the vehicle.

"And in this heat, it is pretty ripe," Herndon told KABC-TV of the bear droppings.

He said there was one small consolation: The Mercedes' engine started fine. He said a friend offered to drive the vehicle on the five hour trip home.

"We duct-taped the rear view mirror on, a couple other things. And he drove it back," he said.

Herndon said there was no food in the car, but it did have a sticker in the back window for Cornell University, where the mascot is a bear.

"You've gotta lock your doors. Even if you're not worried about thieves. Because the bears will get in," he said.

The massive snowpack from last winter has left Mammoth Mountain with enough snow to remain open to skiers and snowboarders through August. Officials the snowpack had led to an unusual ski season.

"We've been seeing a lot of wedding parties going snowboarding and skiing afterwards," Lauren Burke, spokeswoman for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, told KTVU-TV.