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

A 550-pound bear that had been living under a California man’s home for more than a month has finally left, after a bizarre strategy ended a long string of failed eviction attempts by state authorities.

THE male black bear was reportedly removed from the crawl space Tuesday after bear removal experts from Tahoe visited the Altadena home. A 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 sliding in and out of a small crawl space under Ken Johnson’s house since late November. Johnson said the animal caused extensive damage to his home, costing tens of thousands of dollars. It also created a dangerous and unlivable situation involving structural and gas line problems.

“Right after surviving the Eaton’s Fire“I lost my job and shortly after, the bear started destroying the structure of my house,” Johnson said on a GoFundMe page. “I have video footage of the bear twisting the gas lines, which created an extremely dangerous situation and forced me to turn off my utilities just to stay safe.”

BEAR REMAINS UNDER CALIFORNIA HOUSE AFTER WEEKS OF FAILED REMOVAL ATTEMPTS

The eviction of the bears finally happened after Johnson contacted the BEAR League, an organization specializing in bear removal emergencies in Lake Tahoe, located seven hours north of Altadena.

The BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the organization was “glad to have helped Ken Johnson with this bear.”

“A Southern California homeowner had a large male bear living under his house for over a month before seeking help from the BEAR League,” the organization added in a Facebook post Thursday.

The BEAR League told Fox News Digital that the league used paintballs filled with vegetable oil that hit the bear in the back. The wildlife rescue group reportedly completed the job in less than 20 minutes.

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“After previous removal attempts by state wildlife officials failed, BEAR League first responders Scott and Dave traveled to the Los Angeles area to help,” the organization added. “Scott, one of our most experienced responders, crawled under the house, fully aware that the bear was still there, to get behind him and encourage him to exit through the crawl space opening.”

To prevent the bear from nesting in the crawl space again, the organization said it “loaned unwanted electrical 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 images posted by the organization, the mat worked as expected and the bear ran away when it returned.

The BEAR League stressed that residents should be cautious about open crawl spaces, noting that properly securing them helps people safely coexist 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 told Fox News Digital. “The BEAR League comes out several times a day this time of year to evict bears from underneath homes in the Lake Tahoe area, and we’ve been doing it for 30 years at no cost to the homeowner. We work hard to educate people who share space with bears that if humans take a few very simple steps, they can live in harmony with bears.

Tuesday’s success ended a long series of failed expulsion attempts by the California Department of Fish and Wildlifewho had been trying to remove the bear for over a month. At one point, a trap even caught the wrong bear. Efforts including bait, noisemakers and even a trap to catch the wrong bear have all failed.