California family discovers FIVE hibernating bears sleeping under their home after hearing ‘odd rumbling’ sound during night
- The residents of South Lake Tahoe – who have not been identified – claimed to have heard what they described as ‘some odd rumbling, snoring-like sounds’
- They had told themselves that the noises didn’t make any sense and their neighbors even accused them of hearing things, according to The BEAR League
- However, they eventually discovered a mother bear, her three cubs and a fourth ‘adopted’ cub, all about a year old, in the crawl space under the house
- Representatives from The BEAR League then went through the process of getting the mama bear out from under the house
A California family got the shock of their lives recently when they discovered five bears living under their home.
The residents of South Lake Tahoe – who have not been identified – claimed to have heard what they described as ‘some odd rumbling, snoring-like sounds’ during the animals’ winter hibernation, but they largely ignored it.
They had told themselves that the noises didn’t make any sense and their neighbors even accused them of hearing things, according to The BEAR League.
However, they eventually discovered a mother bear, her three cubs and a fourth ‘adopted’ cub, all about a year old, in the crawl space under the house.
The BEAR League noted that the ‘adopted’ cub is quite rare among bears. They added that the cub’s mother had been hit by a car.
A California family discovered more than just three bears living under their home, but a family of five, including this mama bear
They eventually discovered a mother bear, her three cubs and a fourth ‘adopted’ cub, all about a year old, in the crawl space under the house
The bears eventually woke up and the family could no longer deny what was going on under the house, but they didn’t realize there were five bears under the home until the Bear League came out and inspected.
‘They had just thought it was one very noisy bear,’ said Executive Director Ann Bryant.
Representatives from The BEAR League then went through the process of getting the mama bear out from under the house, which involved making it seem like the crawl space under the house was scary and not safe for her and the cubs.
Bryant said that this process never physically hurts the bears but it does ‘hurt their feelings’ sometimes.
One they were able to get the mother out from under the house, she signaled to her cubs and they followed.
The residents of South Lake Tahoe – who have been unidentified – claimed to have heard what they described as ‘some odd rumbling, snoring-like sounds’ during their winter but it had largely gone ignored
An electrical barrier was installed in the crawl space to deter further bears from making a home of the area. The barrier will provide a small shock.
‘Each winter, about 100 to 150 of our bears attempt to hibernate under homes here at Tahoe,’ Bryant said. ‘The BEAR League is kept very busy moving bears out of these crawl spaces, often several bears each day.’
‘People really need to make sure their crawl space openings are closed and secured before bears go inside… especially in the fall, when they are looking for hibernation dens,’ she added.