We’re so happy for California homeowner Ken Johnson to have finally found relief. Then a 550-pound brown bear made himself at home under his house for more than a month! The bear’s arrival just before Thanksgiving sent Johnson’s life into a tailspin. To the rescue came the BEAR League, a regional cooperative nonprofit dedicated to promoting human-bear coexistence. The rescue team was able to chase off the bear, allowing them to clear the bizarre scene without injury.
As the bear took up residence in Johnson’s crawl space, Johnson was faced with various lifestyle changes, trades offs, and compromises. “We knew he had to turn off his gas. We knew he couldn’t take a shower, no hot water, and we thought, ‘We gotta help this guy, even though it’s way out of our area,’” said Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League. The organization’s advocates work around the clock to foster peaceful coexistence between bears and humans. In this specific case, they came to Johnson’s aid.
Two wildlife reconciliation specialists from the BEAR League were flown in to help remove the bear. As soon as they got there, they decided on a quick threat assessment and formed a plan to get the bear to go away. Bryant pointed out that even getting to his home, we were able to quickly judge our environment within 10 minutes. In less than that time, we were able to safely extract the bear.
After only one day of intervention, the bear came out of the crawl space! This provided the team a convenient excuse to drive it off. The trumping of community concerns didn’t stop there during the resettling process. The bear first tried taking shelter under another house in the neighborhood, but that home’s owner didn’t mind the bear’s company thanks to previous experiences with them. This temporary abode would not last long, though—the bear soon made herself at home in a third home!
At our third site, the homeowner said the bear was making her feel unsafe. The BEAR League had worked together with local animal control to manage the situation. As a team, they prevented or evicted the bear from all non-commercial areas, keeping everyone safe. The combined effort demonstrates the continuing struggle to appropriately handle wildlife encounters in suburban landscapes.
Ken Johnson told us how relieved he was to hear this. “Every morning, I look at my outdoor camera, and it’s thankfully empty,” he stated. He went above and beyond to protect his home from future bear intrusions. “I have bolted up a recessed panel so he can’t get his claws around it, and I may just go ahead and buy one of those bear pads and put that on the opening too,” he added.
Bryant—who has been on the other side of situations like Johnson’s—recalled her experience, describing a sense of norm in their pursuit. “We’ve done it so many times. It’s like it’s just part of our lives,” she remarked about their work with local wildlife.
Despite the ordeal, both Johnson and Bryant remained optimistic that humans and bears can continue to coexist peacefully in their community. The BEAR League is committed to providing tools and guidance for peacefully navigating unusual encounters. As they work to keep humans safe, they are working to ensure continued safety for wildlife.
