It’s been a beary tough stretch for this California homeowner.

Sleep deprivation, strange smells, severe damage, and things that go bump in the night. It’s all part of what it’s like to have a 550-pound bear living underneath your house.

“It’s a lot more stressful than I thought,” Ken Johnson told The Post Thursday, 11 days after the burly bruin made itself at home in a crawl space beneath his Altadena abode.

And the beast, nicknamed “Unbearable” by Johnson’s friends, hasn’t left since.

“Unbearable,” is just one nickname. He’s also been called Victor, Bruno, Barney and Volkswagen. Ken J Johnson Photography and Design

Johnson stressed that he loves wildlife and it’s been “tough to hear” the bear apparently struggling to make his way out.

But the reality is the homeowner’s days have been turned upside down. While he’s working on the computer at his kitchen table, he can hear the bear pawing around under the house.

Even worse, the sounds at night. “I wake up, toss and turn and then I think I hear something, is he under my bed? Last night I didn’t get much sleep.”

“It’s messing stuff up under the house. That’s going to cost money,” he noted.

“I’m waiting for the other paw to drop,” exclaimed Johnson.

Ken Johnson has been living with a bear for almost two weeks. Photo Courtesy Ken J Johnson Photography and Design Ken J Johnson Photography and Design

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been trying to help Johnson remove the animal by setting up what’s called a Cambrian Box Trap, filled with fried and rotisserie chicken, apples, oranges, shrimp, sardines and peanut butter.

“They are very effective,” California Fish and Wildlife spokesman Cort Klopping told The Post.

But the massive metal trap filled with the bear-necessities isn’t exactly a delicacy for Johnson.

A metal bear trap filled with chicken, sardines, shrimp and peanut butter in Ken’s backyard. NY Post

“It smells really bad. It’s all good food but it’s not something you would want to put all together. It makes me nauseous, it’s so strong,” he said.

Johnson lives with his cat “Boo,” who’s been investigating the new furry housemate.

“Boo” the cat trying to get a glimpse of the 550 pound bear living beneath his home. Photo Courtesy of Ken J Johnson Photography and Design Ken J Johnson Photography and Design

“The cat is able to smell the bear through the vents and hear it. He’ll run and try to see what it is.”

Since news of the Altadena bear broke, Johnson’s been bombarded by camera crews, news helicopters, photographers and looky-loos all trying to get a glimpse of the animal.

But all the attention seems to have spooked the bear.

Johnson said he’d like a return to peace and quiet and “not poking the bear anymore, so he can leave.”

He just wants a return to normalcy after a difficult year in which his home suffered smoke damage from the Altadena fires and lost clients for his photography business.

And now the bear. 

“It was interesting having him here but nothing seems to work,” Johnson concluded.