A 550-pound bear, which had taken up residence beneath a California man’s home for over a month, has finally vacated the premises. This success follows a series of unsuccessful removal attempts by state officials, culminating in a rather unconventional yet effective strategy.
On Tuesday, bear-removal specialists from Tahoe managed to extricate the male black bear from the home’s crawl space. A team member ventured into the cramped area and used paintballs filled with vegetable oil to coax the bear out, according to the wildlife organization BEAR League, which shared the details with Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Surveillance footage revealed that the hefty bear had been squeezing itself in and out of Ken Johnson’s crawl space since late November. Johnson recounted that the bear inflicted significant damage on his property, resulting in repair costs amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. The bear’s presence also posed serious safety hazards, including structural damage and compromised gas lines.
“After enduring the Eaton fire, I lost my job,” Johnson explained on a GoFundMe page. “Shortly thereafter, the bear began dismantling my home’s structure. I have video evidence of it twisting gas pipes, which created a highly dangerous situation and necessitated shutting off my utilities for safety.”
The bear’s removal was finally achieved through the intervention of BEAR League, a specialized organization in Lake Tahoe that deals with bear-related emergencies. Johnson reached out to them after previous attempts to evict the bear had failed.
The bear eviction finally took place after Johnson contacted BEAR League, an organization that specializes in bear removal emergencies in Lake Tahoe, located seven hours north of Altadena.Â
BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the organization was “pleased to have helped Ken Johnson with this bear.”
“A Southern California homeowner had a large male bear living under his house for more than a month before reaching out to the BEAR League for help,” the organization added in a post on Facebook on Thursday.Â
BEAR League told Fox News Digital that the league used paintballs filled with vegetable oil that hit the bear in the backside. The wildlife rescue group reportedly finished the job in less than 20 minutes.
Surveillance video has captured a large bear squeezing itself into a new home. (Ken Johnson via Storyful)
“After earlier removal attempts by state wildlife officials were unsuccessful, BEAR League first responders Scott and Dave traveled to the Los Angeles area to assist,” the organization added. “Scott, one of our most experienced responders, crawled beneath the home—fully aware the bear was still there—to get behind him and encourage him to exit through the crawl space opening.”
To prevent the bear from denning in the crawl space again, the organization said it “loaned electric unwelcome mats to give the homeowner time to make repairs and secure the crawl space to prevent another visit.”
According to social media footage posted by the organization, the mat worked just as designed, and the bear scurried away when it returned.
BEAR League emphasized that residents should be cautious about having open crawl spaces, noting that properly securing them helps people coexist safely with wildlife.
“We remind those who live in bear country that a poorly-secured crawl space is an open invitation for a winter visitor like this bear,” the league said to Fox News Digital. “BEAR League responds multiple times per day at this time of year to evict bears from under homes in the Lake Tahoe region, and we’ve done so for 30 years without cost to the homeowner.  We work hard to educate people who share space with the bears that if humans take some very simple steps, they can live in harmony with the bears.”
Tuesday’s success ended a long streak of failed eviction attempts by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which had been trying to remove the bear for over a month. At one point, a trap even caught the wrong bear. Efforts that included bait, noisemakers and even a trap that caught the wrong bear all failed.
