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Giant bear living under LA man’s house finally leaves after 37 days — thanks to this bizarre method
The New York Post ^ | January 8, 2026 | Jeremy Louwerse

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 ...


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KEYWORDS: bear; bears; paintballs

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This is a nuisance bear that will just move on and be a problem to another home owner. Bears don't play nice with humans, and stronger action is needed.
GP also has the story and video:

WATCH: Massive Bear Is Finally Dislodged From Under California House – With Shots of Paintball!

1 posted on 01/11/2026 7:14:21 AM PST by Dr. Franklin
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To: Dr. Franklin

“Bears hate this one weird trick. But there’s nothing they can do to stop you.”


2 posted on 01/11/2026 7:15:20 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats seek power through cheating and assassination. They are sociopaths. They just want power.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Is it illegal to just shoot and kill it?


3 posted on 01/11/2026 7:20:09 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: Dr. Franklin

I’m sure the petabots will call it “cruel”.


4 posted on 01/11/2026 7:20:48 AM PST by rootntootn (Until order is restored, there will be none.)
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To: All

Just because the Bear broke into the home without permission he just had every right to live there as the people who paid for the place


5 posted on 01/11/2026 7:20:50 AM PST by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
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To: Dr. Franklin; SunkenCiv; The Spirit Of Allegiance; Rennes Templar; dayglored
The paintballs are filled with vegetable oil...

Oil on bear canvas. It's not for amateurs.

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.”

It doesn't paint a pretty picture.

6 posted on 01/11/2026 7:23:07 AM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Dr. Franklin

I got yer “paintballs” right here.

https://www.brennekeusa.com/brands/hunting-ammunition/black-magic-magnum


7 posted on 01/11/2026 7:24:15 AM PST by Disambiguator
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To: Angelino97
Is it illegal to just shoot and kill it?

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.
8 posted on 01/11/2026 7:24:23 AM PST by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: Ezekiel

Unpalate-able really.


9 posted on 01/11/2026 7:24:24 AM PST by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Send in a honeybadger. Honeybadger don’t give a sh_t.


10 posted on 01/11/2026 7:26:17 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: Angelino97

“Is it illegal to just shoot and kill it?”

Seriously???

It’s California. It’s probably illegal to refer to the bear in a derogatory manner . . .


11 posted on 01/11/2026 7:27:18 AM PST by MCSETots
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To: Dr. Franklin

I wondered why the California Department of Wildlife or whatever it’s called didn’t just tranquilize the bear and drag it out.


12 posted on 01/11/2026 7:30:02 AM PST by FreedomForce
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To: Dr. Franklin

On the plus side, I bet the guy didn’t have any problems with raccoons living under his house.

🦝


13 posted on 01/11/2026 7:31:04 AM PST by Leaning Right (It's morning in America. Again.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Thy sure wasted a lot of time and energy getting rid of the bear. All they had to do was put an endless loop of Kamala speeches on and the bear would have bolted out and never stop running.


14 posted on 01/11/2026 7:31:05 AM PST by shelterguy
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To: Dr. Franklin
Bears in cities will be nothing compared to wolves, which are now ravaging the edges of Sonoma County. It will be the blood bath I've been expecting and predicting for at least 15 years, simply as a matter of terrain, population, historic land use, and leftist politics. Wolves will be the agro-urban wake up call about wildlife management. If this doesn’t wake them up, nothing will.

The cause of this problem is a deeply embedded cultural mythos, that "Nature" must be protected everywhere, and at all costs. These people do not understand that they are perpetrating a biological catastrophe in process. Life is to be cared for, actively and in detail; else biodiversity and particularly early successional plants and insects take a fatal hit allowing the witless progression of uninterrupted vegetative succession as coupled with continuing invasions of exotic species. With that failure goes the soil system, a tragic systematic error that has brought the collapse of many a civilization.

15 posted on 01/11/2026 7:33:32 AM PST by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

That crawlspace has to be filthy to the the highest magnitude, far too nasty to store anything in. The homeowner may need to hire one of those professional clean up crews. the kind who are asked to do some “straightening up” for business offices after a flood.
Bring your own gas masks! The air will not be fresh.


16 posted on 01/11/2026 7:41:01 AM PST by lee martell
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To: Dr. Franklin

In Missouri it would have just quietly disappeared, never to be seen again, like certain bullies.


17 posted on 01/11/2026 7:42:53 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: escapefromboston

A NEW CLASS OF “SQUATTERS”


18 posted on 01/11/2026 7:43:09 AM PST by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: FreedomForce
I wondered why the California Department of Wildlife or whatever it’s called didn’t just tranquilize the bear and drag it out.

First of all, someone needed to have the guts to get into that crawl space and harass the bear to leave. None of the DEI hires working for the state of CA wanted that job. It required volunteers. Second of all, dragging a 550 pound bear is a lot of work, and they would have needed to make a bigger opening around the foundation of the house to remove it. These volunteers knew what they were doing because they had no problem convincing the bear it was time to leave.
19 posted on 01/11/2026 7:44:27 AM PST by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: Leaning Right

I’d like a shock mat for the critters who manage to get into my shed.


20 posted on 01/11/2026 7:44:31 AM PST by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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