22 September 2023
AMELIA COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia woman who kept hearing loud banging noises outside of her Amelia County home in the middle of the night checked her security camera the next morning and was shocked to see a large black bear had paid her a visit.
Destiny Layman says she had seen deer and rabbits on her front lawn in rural central Virginia before, but never a bear — let alone one beating down the side of her home.
At around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, the bear scratched on windows, banged on doors and ripped lights, shingles and siding off of her house. Layman said the beast even left dents on her car and ripped the windshield wipers off.
“The bear went to my front and my back doors and did the same thing and was beating on the doors,” Layman said. “And I also have a camera, so when I had pulled up the camera footage when I first woke up, my camera was facing downward. So the bear had taken the camera and had turned it.”
In addition to the extensive damage to her house and car, the bear left muddy pawprints all over Layman’s porch.
Amelia County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the house, took a report and called a conservation officer — but Layman said the conservation officer would only have been able to help if the bear had gotten inside of the home.
Now, Layman says she is getting insurance adjustors to quote her on the cost to repair the damage. She says she’s still feeling on edge when she’s outside of her home.
“It definitely is an uneasy feeling,” Layman said. “Like, if I get home after dark, I drive my car like, through the whole yard to shine on every corner of the house before I get out, just to make sure.”
The Amelia County Sheriff’s Office said it has not received any other reports of property damage caused by bears in the area.