A black bear has moved into the crawl space beneath Ken Johnson’s Southern California home, creating an unusual roommate situation that highlights ongoing wildlife displacement from recent wildfires.
The 63-year-old Altadena resident discovered his uninvited guest last week through security camera footage he’d installed in June after noticing animal damage.
The incident underscores how January’s devastating Eaton Fire continues to disrupt local ecosystems. The blaze killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of structures while displacing wildlife from Angeles National Forest habitats.
“It’s a huge bear,” Johnson said, describing the animal as table-height and larger than his trash bins, the Associated Press reported. “It’s really unnerving because I don’t know if he’s going to tear everything up under there, I don’t know how to get him out.”
The bear, nicknamed Barry by neighbors, sports dark brown fur with tan markings on its snout and chest. It emerges periodically to raid trash cans, then retreats to its makeshift den.
Johnson isn’t alone in hosting displaced wildlife. State officials removed a 525-pound male bear from another crawl space in January, while a February incident involved a bear lounging by a homeowner’s pool.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) teams handle up to five similar cases weekly during denning season. Bears don’t hibernate in Southern California but take extended naps in sheltered spots.
Despite reporting the situation after the bear growled at him, Johnson hasn’t received an official response. CDFW spokesperson Cort Klopping acknowledged field teams were handling other incidents but hoped to respond “soon.”
Growing impatient, Johnson has devised his own removal strategy.
“The plan is, I’m going to buy a bunch of dinner rolls, and line them down the street up to the hole, and have some sandbags ready,” he explained, per AP. “When he comes down the street to get the dinner rolls, throw sandbags in there and cover it with pepper spray, and just hope he stays away.”
Wildlife officials recommend homeowners seal crawl spaces with bear-proof materials before the winter months. This preventive measure helps discourage bears from establishing dens and causing property damage.
