Dec. 1 (UPI) — A California man changing the batteries on a camera he set up to monitor the black bear living in his crawlspace ended up in a close encounter with the 500-pound predator.
Ken Johnson, 63, said the first sign he had an intruder beneath his Altadena home came in April, when he noticed damage to the bricks and wooden frame around his crawlspace.
He said further damage in June led him to install outdoor cameras to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Johnson said the cameras finally paid off last week when they recorded a black bear going in and out of the crawlspace.
“It was really big. I’ve seen him before, but he was going through the trash and then the next morning he’s coming out from underneath my house,” Johnson told KTLA-TV.
Johnson said he was changing the batteries in his camera on Friday when he had a too-close-for-comfort encounter with the squatter.
“I went around to put batteries in the camera, and this huge growl comes from out from under the crawlspace and I just went running,” he told NBC Los Angeles. “I mean, it was the most amazing roar you’ve ever heard. Like a lion with a hiss on top of it.”
The bear put in a second appearance later on Friday with KTLA cameras present.
Johnson said he is hoping the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will help him evict the unwanted guest.
“I don’t need a bear for Christmas. I want to get rid of the bear for Christmas,” he said.