Bucket of Bears

A 'bucket of bears' implies the chaos and calamity that should be there when you open 'a can of worms'. What would a can of worms do? Just spill out and wiggle around. Hardly the chaos that's advertised. A bucket of bears though? Pandamonium!

Not knowing, she was a "real" Wiccan, he brought up atheism, and opened a bucket of bears, to his detriment.