“If I kept track of everything I tried, it would be Bear 14, Homeowner 0,” says Ken Johnson
The 225kg bear has been sneaking in and out of a crawl space underneath Ken Johnson’s home in Altadena since before November.
Mr Johnson says he will sue the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after they said they would no longer help him capture the bear.
The state agency initially stepped in to try to trap the beast, but instead caught a different, smaller bear. After hauling off the wrong bear, experts tried to use air horns to flush out the persistent lodger.
Mr Johnson thought the effort was finally working – but the state suddenly told him to stand down.
“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?” Mr Johnson said.
The agency also reportedly told Mr Johnson that he was no longer allowed to use bait to try to lure the bear out. All he can do is listen to the bear moving around, causing damage to his home.
“I can hear the plastic being shredded underneath, and one of the cameras picked it up just bulldozing through it. It’s a mess under there,” Mr Johnson said.
A 225kg bear has been disturbing Mr Johnson since November. Photo: Getty
Mr Johnson’s surveillance cameras caught a pipe being broken, prompting him to shut off his gas on Christmas Eve. He hasn’t had any hot water since, according to news reports.
“I’m just exhausted from the whole thing,” he said. “I get my mind off it for a little bit, and then suddenly I get flooded back with, oh that’s right, I can’t take a hot shower. I’ve got to monitor the situation all the time.”
Mr Johnson says he will sue the department for negligence and emotional distress
Mr Johnson says he will sue the department for negligence and emotional distress after they stepped back from helping him.
“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 said.
He added: “If I kept track of everything I tried, it would be Bear 14, Homeowner 0.”
Legal analyst Alison Triessl said the agency has a responsibility to protect homeowners when there was a public safety threat, and that Mr Johnson may have grounds to take the case to court.
“This homeowner certainly can prove that this bear is causing damage and is a threat to his safety,” Ms Triessl said.
If Mr Johnson were to take the case to court and win, an order to remove the bear would be likely.
“The Department of Fish and Wildlife actually has a 19-page policy when it comes to situations just like this, and over and over it says do all that you can to remedy the situation. But nowhere does it say that they should simply give up and have the homeowner deal with it on their own and wait it out,” Ms Triessl said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife did not immediately return a request for comment.