{"id":416806,"date":"2025-12-01T08:17:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/416806\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T08:17:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:17:28","slug":"bear-takes-up-residence-under-altadena-home-startles-homeowner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/416806\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear takes up residence under Altadena home, startles homeowner"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Altadena homeowner says he has been living with a massive and uninvited roommate \u2014 a 500-pound black bear that has taken up residence beneath his home, all caught on his outdoor surveillance cameras.<\/p>\n

Ken Johnson told KTLA that he installed cameras near a crawlspace after noticing items around the area knocked over or damaged. What he found left him stunned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really big. I\u2019ve seen him before, but he was going through the trash and then the next morning he\u2019s coming out from underneath my house,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Since then, the bear hasn\u2019t just returned \u2014 it\u2019s moved in. Johnson says he sees the animal slipping in and out of the crawlspace every day \u201clike it owns the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, the situation became more alarming when Johnson walked around the side of the house to change the camera batteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just glanced at the hole from standing up and [heard] a growl and a hiss, and I just ran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

KTLA\u2019s Jillian Smukler accompanied Johnson to view the crawlspace on Friday. As they approached, the bear appeared again, prompting frantic moments caught on camera.<\/p>\n

Johnson said it\u2019s unsettling to know the animal is living just feet below the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like a monster because the eyes are close together and then this big, wide head, and I wasn\u2019t even sure what I was looking at,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement advised Johnson that staying indoors would help keep him safe, but he says he wants the bear gone.<\/p>\n

When asked if he planned to charge rent, Johnson joked, \u201cI might,\u201d but added that he\u2019s hoping for help from California Fish and Wildlife to remove the unwanted \u201ctenant.\u201d So far, he\u2019s only reached a holiday closure recording.<\/p>\n

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    \u201cI don\u2019t need a bear for Christmas. I want to get rid of the bear for Christmas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    This isn\u2019t the first time a large black bear has settled beneath a foothill home. In February 2025, a 500-pound bear nicknamed \u201cYogi\u201d moved into a Pasadena homeowner\u2019s crawlspace<\/a> after fleeing a wildfire. And in 2024, a Sierra Madre family dealt with a roughly 400-pound bear living under their porch for weeks<\/a>, monitored by Fish and Wildlife. Both cases drew significant community concern \u2014 and patience \u2014 as officials worked on long-term solutions.<\/p>\n

    As Johnson waits for assistance, he plans to remain inside and keep the cameras rolling.<\/p>\n

    Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Altadena homeowner says he has been living with a massive and uninvited roommate \u2014 a 500-pound black…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":416807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2416,195281,195280,159,120081,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-416806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-black-bear","9":"tag-crawlspace","10":"tag-ken-johnson","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-surveillance-cameras","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115643329028391260","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}