“I feel nervous all the time,” homeowner Ken Johnson said. “I’m always looking over my shoulder to see if he’s coming out.”
A large black bear in Altadena has taken up residence beneath a local home — and refuses to move, despite the homeowner’s best efforts.
Ken Johnson, who owns the house, said the bear has been living in the tight crawlspace under his property for more than a week. He told NBC Los Angeles that the animal growls and makes loud noises, leaving him and his cat constantly on edge.
“I’m always nervous,” Johnson said. “I keep checking to see if he’s going to come out.”
Johnson explained that the bear has visited his property many times in the past, but this time it appears to have fully settled in — squeezing in among pipes and ductwork beneath his house on North Altadena Drive.
Even when the bear isn’t directly under the home, signs of its presence are impossible to ignore.
“My cat keeps sniffing the vent in the kitchen because that’s where the bear is underneath,” he said. “Last night I heard all kinds of banging below the floor, and then the camera caught him coming back out.”
Johnson said the bear has also wrecked his garbage cans.
The animal, which has an ear tag and is known to California Fish and Wildlife officials, is a male estimated to weigh as much as 550 pounds.
Wildlife experts usually recommend placing secure barriers around homes in bear-prone areas — but Johnson said his attempt didn’t hold up. He showed a broken section of heavy brick fencing that the bear managed to push through.
“This thing is tearing up my house and basically living here rent-free,” he said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife advises foothill residents to remove food sources that could attract bears — such as pet food left outside, scraps on backyard grills, and fallen fruit from trees. Even bird feeders can draw bears in, the agency warns.
Residents who encounter bears are encouraged to report sightings through the department’s online wildlife incident system and block potential entrances when the bear is away — something Johnson has tried repeatedly, without success.