We sometimes have bears wreck our cameras. My theory is that maybe we had some food smell on our hands when last handling the camera. I make sure to wash the hands really thoroughly now.

Some guys think the bear hears the camera and gets mad or curious. I've seen too many bears on cameras that weren't damaged to believe that. I think they smell residual food on it. Like, I had bacon for breakfast and then put a cam up.

I think bears are fairly curious to things they don't feel are a threat. Watched a bear documentary where camera crew where using rocks and other objects for hidden cameras and once the bears heard the camera or noticed it, they would start to play with them and attempt to figure it out. They just don't know how to be gentle.

I'm pretty sure it curiosity that gets the coons messing with ours.