--- title: Woman Records Bear Eating Kayak in Alaska: Viral Video description: "Bear, don't eat my kayak!" canonical: https://time.com/4057480/woman-bear-kayak/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-01T15:11:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:50.346Z og:title: Woman Threatens Bear, He Responds By Eating Her Kayak og:description: "Bear, don't eat my kayak!" og:url: https://time.com/4057480/woman-bear-kayak/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Woman Threatens Bear, He Responds By Eating Her Kayak twitter:description: "Bear, don't eat my kayak!" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Woman Threatens Bear With Physical Violence, Bear Responds By Eating Her Kayak > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=f105684c-709a-476e-8813-d93fe1290155&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Oct 1, 2015 3:11 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Oct 1, 2015 3:11 PM UTC If you want to reason with a bear — or anyone really — it’s probably a good idea to avoid threatening them with physical violence and then assaulting them. We learned this lesson from the above video, which shows a woman in Alaska growing increasingly exasperated as a bear eats her kayak. This happened shortly after she pepper sprayed him in the face. The woman, Mary Maley, [explains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5cMZymSr0) on YouTube that she was on a solo kayak trip and heard the bear rummaging around while she was eating lunch. Things start out okay, because the bear is leaving her kayak alone. She thanks him for that, and then she pepper sprays him in the face. He obviously does not enjoy that, so he retaliates by eating her kayak. From there, a truly riveting emotional journey begins. Maley shouts and screams and begs, becoming increasingly more upset with the bear as she realizes she might become stranded. “It’s the end of September,” she wails. “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be asleep.” Lesson learned: if you mess with a bear, he will probably retaliate by destroying your things. ### What Life Is Like for America’s Most Famous Panda Cub  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Bao Bao, the Giant Panda cub is seen by the media for the first time January 6, 2014 inside his glass enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, a few days before going on display to the general public. Bao Bao was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo August 2, 2013\. AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images  Matt McClain—The Washington Post/Getty Images  Bao Bao, the Giant Panda cub is seen by the media for the first time January 6, 2014 inside his glass enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, a few days before going on display to the general public. Bao Bao was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo August 2, 2013\. AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images  Matt McClain—The Washington Post/Getty Images  Connor Mallon—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Courtney Janney—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo  Abby Wood—Smithsonian's National Zoo ## Transcript [00:00] [ NOISE ] [00:02] What makes a video go viral? Here's our guess. [00:07] Mishka, I love you. [ NOISE ] [00:12] Number one, cute animals. [ LAUGH ] Charlie, Charlie [00:13] bit me. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ], [00:13] we're going to Disneyland. Oh, [00:29] my god. Number two, cute kids. [00:44] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:48] Number 3, remixes. [ MUSIC ] Whoa, oh my God, oh [00:52] my God. [00:59] [ LAUGH ] Oh my God. Whoo. Number [01:07] four, spontaneity. Look at all those Number [01:18] five. Cute kids and cute animals. Put [01:22] this all together and it will certainly end up on your [01:24] Facebook feed. 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