Thursday, January 8, 2026

Bear ‘Evicted’ from Crawlspace Under Altadena Home

CITY NEWS SERVICE

A 500-plus-pound bear who took up residence beneath an Altadena home — by squeezing through a seemingly too-small crawlspace entry — was “evicted” this week with help from a Tahoe-based animal-advocacy group.

The bear began living in the crawlspace sometime last year. Homeowner Ken Johnson said he initially found damage at his home that appeared to have been caused by an unknown animal, so he set up a surveillance camera. Around Thanksgiving, the camera captured the unthinkable — a massive black bear backing its way into the narrow crawlspace entryway.

Efforts to remove the bear all fell flat, leaving Johnson frustrated and even threatening to sue the state for failing to get the animal out of the crawlspace.

This week, volunteers from the Lake Tahoe-based nonprofit BEAR League visited Johnson to assist.

According to the group, one of the volunteers “crawled beneath the home — fully aware the bear was still there — to get behind him and encourage him to exit through the crawlspace opening.”

Once the bear exited and ran off, the crawlspace was boarded up, and “electric unwelcome mats” were placed atop the former opening to discourage the bear from returning.

Video surveillance captured by Johnson Wednesday night showed the bear trying to return to his adoptive subterranean home, but the electrified mat quickly scared him off.

The bear’s current whereabouts are unknown.

“I’m relieved — no more banging under the house and smelling him and wondering what’s going on under there,” Johnson told KTLA5 on Thursday.

He told the station he can now access the crawlspace and assess what damage had been caused — including a ruptured gas line.