550-pound beast living under California man's home for a month spawns legal trouble

A man is threatening to sue the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for doing nothing about the 550-pound black bear living under his home for the past month. Ken Johnson, of Altadena, says that the creature has set itself up in the small crawlspace underneath his home since November 30. This has caused damage to his house, and he alleges that the CDFW has stopped all efforts to remove it, KTLA reported. However, the department claims that it has not ended its work to remove the bear and that the officers are in constant touch with the man. “This has gone on long enough, and it’s something that they should deal with. It’s a tagged bear. They’ve dealt with it before. They chose not to euthanise it, and now it’s back, and it’s just going to keep on doing this,” Johnson told KTLA.

Meanwhile, the department claims that despite limited staff, its "biologists have been in constant communication with this homeowner since this bear was reported entering his unsecured crawlspace in November." A CDFW spokesperson told the New York Post, "We remain committed to helping this homeowner and have never indicated otherwise." Johnson was asked to respond to the department's claim, but he refused to say much until he has "proper legal representation".

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California Department of Fish and Wildlife tried to lure and trap the bear

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says they reached his house after receiving the complaint and used a cherry and caramel scented spray to get him out of the crawlspace, but the bear refused to budge. It then placed a massive metal trap filled with fried chicken, sardines, shrimp, peanut butter, and fruit. However, instead of this bear, another one got attracted to it. The bear finally left the crawlspace on Christmas, took a quick round of the property and returned to the spot.

Johnson said that this is when the department told him it was ending its efforts to remove the bear from his home. “I felt very defeated. I just dropped. Now what? It’s all up to me, and I’m supposed to watch my phone when he comes out in the middle of the night? Or sleep in the kitchen and listen for him every night?” Johnson told KTLA.

He told The Post that he has been unable to sleep because of the bear, wondering whether it is under his bed. The damage caused by the animal forced Johnson to take security measures, and he had to turn off his gas on Christmas Eve.