Residents near the foothills in Altadena are weary of a massive, fuzzy neighbor that has been roaming their neighborhood as of late.
A large bear that’s taken a liking to the neighborhood was spotted in the area last week and returned this week to the area, leaving residents feeling unsettled. The large black bear is tagged and identified as “Yellow 2120” and according to wildlife experts, he weighs about a whopping 550 pounds.
Homeowners on Minoru Drive got up close and personal with the bear after it climbed into their crawlspace. Steve Clark, whose in-laws live in the house the bear inhabited under, said the residents were monitoring the wild animal via security cameras. In an effort to shoo the bear off their property, the residents played loud music and banged on the floor over the crawlspace, but to no avail.
Clark said his wife used a leaf blower outside to try to scare the bear, too.
“She’s wearing flip-flops and Bermuda shorts and ill-equipped to deal with a huge bear,” he said. “And I didn’t even realize that the bear could get all the way back to that access point. He has to rip out ductwork and do a bunch of damage to get there. And the next thing you know, she’s eye to eye with this big fella. And he lunged at her and scared her. So the plan backfired.”
When the bear finally left on its own, a handyman quickly got to work to seal all access points under the home. Although the labor worked in barring the bear from getting under the house again, the wild animal remains roaming the neighborhood, apparently seeking food and shelter.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said biologists are working to gather more information on the bear to determine whether it was the same one that was under a different neighbor’s home.