Posted on 01/11/2026 7:14:21 AM PST by Dr. Franklin
The 550-pound bear living under a man’s Los Angeles home for 37 days has finally left the building — after being shot at with paintballs.
Altadena homeowner Ken Johnson has been living with the massive black bear under his home since Nov. 30 when it began squatting in his crawl space. The “unbearable” roommate ruined Christmas for Johnson and had him on edge for weeks.
The bear eviction finally happened Tuesday after Johnson contacted “The Bear League” — a group from Lake Tahoe that specializes in bear removal emergencies.
“We heard about Ken, we felt bad for him and flew down and got the bear out,” said Ann Bryant, the founder and executive director.
The crew jumped into action, firing paintballs into the crawl space until the bruin had enough — retreating from its den.
“The bear was gone in 20 minutes,” Bryant said.
The paintballs are filled with vegetable oil and sometimes “they hit the bear in the rump,” added Bryant — who said her organization does between six and eight bear extractions a day.
Johnson told The Post he quickly covered the crawl space with two layers of plywood and sandbags to prevent the bear from ever coming back. The Bear League also placed an “electric mat” in front of the crawlspace designed to give a small shock if stepped on.
The shock mat proved to be handy when the bear returned Wednesday but got zapped.
“He came back, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh.’ He hit the mat and scurried away into darkness,” Johnson said.
The Bear League website says the group offers around-the-clock support, noting its goal is to “educate people about the true nature of these animals.” The league has 2,500 members and 220 volunteers, Bryant said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
“The paintballs are filled with vegetable oil...”
An unusual way of basting a roast.
Ursus foiled again.
Just put MSNBC on a loudspeaker. The bear will leave.
I grew up in Tahoe. Nuisance bears need to be killed. Sorry but that’s the only solution.
Yup! Unless it is attacking someone. Or, if its declared a nuisance bear by whoever (fish and game?) and a specific shooter only can take it out. IIRC.... Anyone? Bueller?
“”””Since the late 10’s over 70,000 teasel plants have been cut or pulled by hand - it’s the only surefire method of control.””””
The day will come as agricultural robot machine harvesting advances, that a machine will be able to identify and pull that plant, and other types, who knows when, but someday.
Plumbers can identify with that middle photo, sometimes it is a tight squeeze.
No, you can eat it too. And get a nice rug.
Play lib news at max volume on the side opposite the exit.
Yup, teasel is dominant. It takes significant labor to reverse an infestation. I have some thoughts there if you are interested.
The entire architecture of our social-meltdown-in-progress was perpetrated upon the presumption that diversion of human sexual energy into non-procreative expression for the purpose of population control was necessary for protection of “the environment.”
The delusional genius who put that plan together owned a place in Big Sur, CA. Just outside of what was his house is a disaster of Oxalis pes caprae, Bomus diandrus, and Ehrharta erecta, all growing in the shade of Eucalyptus globulus.
Need I say more?
:-)
“Unless the bear is shot in self-defense, killing it is illegal unless the person has a license and it’s bear season. It is also illegal to shoot a bear with live ammo too close to a house, even if it’s bear season.”
And, dragging a dead bear out from under your crawl space and then disposing of the carcass would be a big project.
It’s California. I’m surprised a Biden judge didn’t issue an emergency order saying the bear could stay.
NM, too. In the eastern part, anyway.
Its winter and theyre in torpor. They intentionally plug themselves up until spring so the animal didnt leave any b-air fresheners for the home owner to deal with.
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