This Family Was Shocked To Find That A Giant Bear Has Moved In Under Their House

A lot of people feel a little bit uneasy when going downstairs into their basement or other spaces underneath the house. And it sure is understandable - after all, it's not really that uncommon to feel tense when going into a relatively small and dark space. Well, that isn't the case for everyone though. Apparently, bears tend to get especially fond of such places towards the winter when they start looking for somewhere dark, safe and cozy to hibernate. Apparently, one bear found a cave-like crawl space after one family left it unlocked and took it as an invitation.

More info: BEAR League

It all started in early November when the bears usually begin their hunt for a good sleeping spot for winter. One unsuspecting family in Lake Tahoe, California, heard some weird yet very loud noises coming from the crawl space underneath their house. After looking around a bit, they figured out it must be some very large animal snuck in there - most likely a bear. It must have crawled in there when the family left the crawl space unlocked. The couple was determined to get the bear out of there safely, so they contacted BEAR League, a completely volunteer, community-based, not-for-profit organization in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Truckee and beyond, committed to keeping bears safe and wild in their natural habitat, that deal with these kinds of situations all the time.

Ann Bryant, executive director of BEAR League, promised the couple to be there the next day and help to get the bear out of the family's crawl space and into a safer, more suited sleeping space. But as the day went on, the couple stopped hearing any sounds from underneath their house and assumed the bear didn't find it satisfactory after all and moved out. Therefore, they closed the crawl space and locked the door so another sleepy animal wouldn't sneak in. But as it turned out, the bear didn't go anywhere and started making sounds again at night. Terrified, the husband realized he locked the bear in. The family felt terrible for locking the poor bear in and begged Bryant to come first thing in the morning, which she did. “The people were just wonderful, they were so sweet,” Bryant said. “They didn't want anything bad to happen to the bear, they were worried about him and they felt so bad for locking him under there.”

Bryant, who deals with these situations every day, instantly knew what to do. She found another entrance to the crawl space and snuck into it, so the bear couldn't see her. Then she used a special tool to scare the bear and make it crawl out from under the house. She told the wife to watch from the window and holler when the bear came out — but for some reason, the bear never did. After a while, Bryant went outside herself to figure out why he didn't come out yet — and that’s exactly the moment the bear decided it was a perfect moment to leave. At first, the bear looked a little bit dazzled but after standing there for a second wondering what to do next, he ran off. Turns out, Bryant recognized the bear as one of the locals and was thrilled she was able to help him out on his journey. “We've known him for a really long time,” Bryant said. “He loves the local Mexican restaurants — he gets into their dumpsters.” As she spoke fondly about bears, Bryant reminded that people should take all the care needed not to get themselves into these kinds of situations as crawl spaces and other similar areas of the house are perfect for bears looking for a place to nap. They always look for cave-like spaces that are dark, quiet, dry and safe - if that's the definition of your crawl space, make sure you locked it!