Dec. 23 (UPI) — California wildlife officials attempted to lure a bear out from underneath an Altadena man’s home — but ended up catching the wrong bruin.
Ken Johnson discovered in November that the animal that had been frequenting his property since at least April was a bear that had moved into the crawlspace under his house, so he turned to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for help.
CDFW officials said the state’s bears like to find a comfortable place to create their dens around this time of year.
“Unfortunately, it sounds like this is what that bear has potentially found under the homeowner’s house in the crawlspace,” CDFW representative Cort Klopping told CBS Los Angeles. “It’s unfortunate. We want to see the bears in the woods, not in people’s homes.”
CDFW biologists set a metal crate trap on Johnson’s property and baited it with the scents of caramel and cherry. Officials were initially elated when a bear was snared in the trap Dec. 16, but they soon discovered they had the wrong bear.
Instead of the animal living in Johnson’s crawlspace, the trap had ensnared a bear that had simply wandered onto the property, while the crawlspace squatter remained in its den.
The captured bear was relocated to a more suitable habitat.
The trespassing bruin, known as Yellow 2120, remains underneath Johnson’s home, officials said.
Johnson said he has been playing loud sounds — including recordings of barking dogs — in the hopes of drawing the bear out from its hiding spot, but so far nothing has worked.