How to Evict a Giant Bear living under your house

A 550-pound bear living under a California home has finally been evicted after taking up residence over a month ago

The bear

The 550-pound bear living under a man’s Los Angeles home has finally left the building — after being shot at with paintballs.

Altadena homeowner Ken Johnson had 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 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.

      Bear retreats with paintball spots on rump

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 but got zapped.

The bear attempted to return to his home two days later, but Johnson was able to board up the crawl space and placed an electrified mat to keep him out

“He came back, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh.’ But after he hit the mat he scurried away into darkness,” Johnson said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife had been trying to extract the bear for over a month first with scent spray — then with a bear trap filled with sardines, fried chicken, shrimp, peanut butter and apples.

The trap eventually caught the wrong bear, a beast that had been walking around the neighborhood.

Johnson eventually threatened to sue the CDFW after the agency abandoned efforts to get rid of the animal.

But now that the bear is gone, the homeowner said he loves the animal — as long as it stays away.

“A bear is not a good roommate,” he said. “We’re meant to co-exist, not co-habitat.”

https://nypost.com/2026/01/08/us-news/bear-living-under-mans-california-home-finally-leaves/

https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/inside-the-bear-league-californias-paintball-eviction-experts/