Strange strategy finally removes 550-pound bear from California home 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 state officials ended a long series of failed removal attempts with a bizarre strategy.

The male black bear was reportedly removed from the sweep Tuesday after bear removal experts in Tahoe went to the home in Altadena. One of the team members went inside and fired paintballs filled with vegetable oil, wildlife organization BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

The big bear has been in and out of a small crawl space underneath Ken Johnson’s home since late November, according to surveillance footage. Johnson said the animal caused extensive damage to his home and cost tens of thousands of dollars. It also created a dangerous, uninhabitable situation that included structural and gas line problems.

“I lost my job right after surviving the Eaton fire, and shortly after that the bear started tearing apart the structure of my house,” Johnson said on the GoFundMe page. “I have video footage of him bending gas pipes, which created an extremely dangerous situation and forced me to shut down all my services to stay safe.”

BEAR LEFT IN CALIFORNIA HOME AFTER WEEKS OF FAILED REMOVAL EFFORTS

The bear evacuation finally took place after Johnson contacted the BEAR League, an organization that specializes in bear removal emergencies from Lake Tahoe, located seven hours north of Altadena.

BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the organization was “delighted to assist Ken Johnson with this bear.”

“A Southern California homeowner had a large male bear living under his home for more than a month before turning to the BEAR League for help,” the organization said in a Facebook post Thursday. he added.

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

WE MADE A ‘VERY ARROGANT’ SURPRISE VISIT TO THE CALIFORNIA ZOO BEFORE THE WILD BEAR RETURNED TO THE FOREST

Surveillance video shows a large bear stuck in a new home. (via Ken Johnson Storyful)

“After previous removal attempts by state wildlife officials failed, 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 under the house behind it, fully aware that the bear was still there, and encouraged it to exit through the crawl space opening.”

To prevent the bear from entering the crawl space again, the organization said it “loaned unwanted electric mats to secure the crawl space to give the homeowner time to make repairs and prevent another visit.”

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Accordingly social media images According to a statement released by the organization, the mop worked as designed and quickly walked away when the bear returned.

BEAR League emphasized that residents should be vigilant about having open roaming areas, noting that properly securing them helps people coexist safely with wildlife.

“We remind residents of bear country that a poorly secured screening area is an open invitation for a winter visitor like this bear,” the league said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said. “BEAR League responds several times a day to remove bears from under homes in the Lake Tahoe area this time of year, and we’ve been doing this for 30 years at no cost to the homeowner. We work hard to educate people who share space with bears that they can live in harmony with bears if people take very simple steps.”

Tuesday’s success ended a long string of unsuccessful eviction attempts by the California Fish and Wildlife Service, which had been trying to remove the bear for more than a month. At one point the trap even caught the wrong bear. Efforts that included bait, noisemakers, and even a trap that caught the wrong bear all failed.