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Massive bear finally evicted from California home after terrorizing owner for more than a month
Daily Mail ^

Posted on 01/09/2026 8:37:01 PM PST by algore

A California homeowner has finally removed a 550-pound bear living under his house that has been wreaking havoc for over a month.

Kenneth Johnson, 63, discovered the massive male black bear had taken up residence in the crawl space of his $1.5 million Altadena home just before Thanksgiving.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) attempted to capture the beast, called Yellow 2120 by researchers, with bait and noisemakers.

But their efforts were unsuccessful and Johnson even threatened to sue the department after they allegedly stopped helping with the removal.

However, the homeowner finally had a stroke of luck on Tuesday when experts with the BEAR League stepped in.

Volunteers from the non-profit organization based in the Lake Tahoe Basin travelled to Los Angeles to help Johnson. The group aims to help people live 'in harmony with bears'.

'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 crawlspace opening,' BEAR League wrote on Facebook.

Video showed the massive bear crawling out from underneath the house as the volunteers fired paintballs at it.

Johnson captured footage of the bear attempting to return to his home two days later, but he was able to board up the crawl space and placed an electrified mat to keep him out.

'We also loaned electric unwelcome mats to give the homeowner time to make repairs and secure the crawlspace to prevent another visit,' BEAR League added.

Before the bear was removed, Johnson said he was forced to shut off his gas after he captured video of a broken pipe by the bear.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: bear; bears; blackbear; blackbears; california; wildlife
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To: lee martell

That song makes my ears bleed. The homeowner would have been charged with animal cruelty!


21 posted on 01/09/2026 9:39:34 PM PST by howlinhound (Tagline in the shop for repairs.)
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To: moviefan8

Politicians, whores and bears all get respectable if they last long enough


22 posted on 01/09/2026 10:01:32 PM PST by Palio di Siena (Kralik…..you get the wallet)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

You sure would feel differently, if you went row in the cellar for a jar of canned peaches and a bottle of wine👀


23 posted on 01/09/2026 10:04:49 PM PST by Equine1952 (MM1SS )
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To: algore

1. Start your car and run a large hose to the space beneath the house from the exhaust.

2. The bear will either die from Carbon Monoxide or flee the space. If it dies a strong rope to pull it out and dispose of.

3. If it flees it then becomes a problem of the State of California at great expense. A problem I could have solved with my 308 in one shot and a rope to drag the body out. I would charge little for my work.

In reality this happened to me. A skunk took up residence in my glider fuselage. I suspect I had taken him for a ride to great altitudes often. To displace him I took a small engine and placed it at the tail of the glider and started the engine with a tube leading into the glider. He or she soon exited and I then sealed all access to my glider.

At 8000 feet in the air is not a good time to find a irritated skunk in your cockpit.


24 posted on 01/09/2026 10:10:38 PM PST by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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To: rlmorel
At least they didn’t try to blow it up like the dead whale carcass many years ago…

That was classic!

25 posted on 01/09/2026 10:12:56 PM PST by OldMissileer (Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, PK. Winners of the Cold War)
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To: Carry_Okie

When did they change names? I never noticed. Same bullshit goes with CDF California department of Forestry, changing their name to CalFire. All down hill after that.


26 posted on 01/09/2026 11:21:17 PM PST by Pocketdoor
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To: Pocketdoor
When did they change names?

January 1, 2013.

27 posted on 01/09/2026 11:25:20 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

2013 ? My goodness. So do call a wildlife warden to check out tags?


28 posted on 01/09/2026 11:36:00 PM PST by Pocketdoor
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To: Governor Dinwiddie; mairdie; Bikkuri

{Massive 550-pound bear finally evicted from California
home after terrorizing owner for more than a month]

See now, here I thought that Rosie O’Donnell
had moved to England or something...


29 posted on 01/09/2026 11:40:27 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: SaveFerris

I was picturing a huge keg ;^D


30 posted on 01/09/2026 11:49:51 PM PST by Bikkuri
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To: cpdiii
"A skunk took up residence in my glider fuselage."

That's too funny! Good thing there weren't any striped kitties up with you at 8k feet!

31 posted on 01/10/2026 12:40:22 AM PST by KitJ (Shall not be infringed...)
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To: rlmorel

Hilarious!

1,000 pounds of TNT and dynamite vs. Whale carcass. Oregon coast, 1970.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34

Flying chunks of blubber crushed a couple cars a quarter of a mile away.

Maybe best to just let nature take it’s course for a dead whale on the beach?


32 posted on 01/10/2026 12:53:24 AM PST by KitJ (Shall not be infringed...)
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To: algore

That was a big bear.

1. If I had a $1.5M mansion, it wouldn’t have a crawlspace.
2. A bear would have about 12 hours of life left if it snuck into said crawlspace. Time to go, Baloo.
3. If it doesn’t find another place, fast, then a Marlin .45-70 or 12ga slug is medicine.
4. Dragged by a towline outside where it can be skinned.
5. There is no step five.

Evidently, Mr. Johnson did not have any bear medicine in his million dollar home in Altadena. He trusted the State to come get rid of bear-stank from under his house for months.

Bears stink. To high heaven. All wild animals do.

“Man Lives with Stinky Bear for Months in Altadena”
Film at 11.


33 posted on 01/10/2026 1:12:18 AM PST by KitJ (Shall not be infringed...)
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To: algore

In PA this would have been a simple case of gun, truck and chain. Some assembly required, but absolutely no gubmint.


34 posted on 01/10/2026 2:30:11 AM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

“To be fair, this is California, where nothing gets done.”
.
Where fire hydrants have no water...


35 posted on 01/10/2026 2:47:59 AM PST by Does so (☞Just three Presidential terms required to fundamentally transform America.....Dem☭¢rats)
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To: KitJ
1. If I had a $1.5M mansion, it wouldn’t have a crawlspace.

Ditto that for any open crawlspace. It is probably a nice house, but not really a mansion. Burned out lots are about $500K to $1M in Altadena.

36 posted on 01/10/2026 3:06:35 AM PST by EVO X ( )
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To: algore

live ‘in harmony with bears’.

…uh huh. Just ask Timothy Treadwell!!


37 posted on 01/10/2026 3:22:42 AM PST by albie
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To: SaveFerris
>> "See now, here I thought that Rosie O’Donnell had moved to England or something..." <<

🤣🤣🤣😅


38 posted on 01/10/2026 3:25:26 AM PST by ANKE69
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To: EVO X
"Burned out lots are about $500K to $1M in Altadena.

Shoot and eat the bear, burn the papers. Keep the hide for bedding.

Mind you, bear meat is full of parasites. You have to cook it well done. Nasty stuff.

Save claws, hide, and teeth.

39 posted on 01/10/2026 3:49:40 AM PST by KitJ (Shall not be infringed...)
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To: cpdiii

At 8000 feet in the air is not a good time to find a irritated skunk in your cockpit.


I am sure it was not fun at the time. It makes a great story!


40 posted on 01/10/2026 3:55:22 AM PST by marktwain (----------------------)
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