Strange strategy finally removes 550-pound bear from California home crawl space

A 550-pound bear that had been living beneath a California man’s home for over a month has finally left, after a bizarre strategy ended a long streak of failed removal attempts by state officials.

The male black bear was reportedly removed from the crawl space Tuesday after bear-removal experts from Tahoe traveled to the Altadena home. One team member crawled inside and fired paintballs filled with vegetable oil, wildlife organization BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

According to surveillance video, the large bear has been wedging itself in and out of a small crawl space beneath Ken Johnson’s house since late November. Johnson said that the animal caused extensive damage to his home, costing tens of thousands of dollars. It also created a dangerous, unlivable situation involving structural and gas line issues. 

“Right after surviving the Eaton fire, I lost my job, and shortly after that the bear began tearing into the structure of my home,” Johnson said in a GoFundMe page. “I have video footage of it twisting gas pipes, which created an extremely dangerous situation and forced me to shut off my utilities just to stay safe.”

BEAR REMAINS UNDER CALIFORNIA HOME AFTER WEEKS OF FAILED REMOVAL ATTEMPTS

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. 

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. 

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.

WILD BEAR MAKES ‘VERY POLITE’ SURPRISE VISIT TO CALIFORNIA ZOO BEFORE RETURNING TO FOREST

“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.”

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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.