The 550-pound bear was finally kicked out of its California home after a bizarre tactic ended the month-long ordeal

A 550-pound bear that has been living under a California man’s home for more than a month is finally on the loose, after a bizarre tactic ended a long string of failed removal attempts by state officials.

The male black bear was removed from the crawl space Tuesday after Tahoe bear removal experts traveled to the Altadena home. A crew member went in and removed paintballs filled with vegetable oil, the wildlife organization Bear League told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

According to surveillance video, the large bear has been wading itself in and out of a small crawl space under Ken Johnson’s home since late November. Johnson said the animal caused extensive damage to his home, costing thousands of dollars. It also created dangerous, uninhabitable conditions involving structural and gas line issues.

“As soon as the Eaton fire escaped, I lost my job, and shortly after that the bear started tearing into the structure of my house,” Johnson said on the GoFundMe page. “I have video footage of the gas pipe twisting, which created an extremely dangerous situation and forced me to shut off my utilities to be safe.”

The bear remains under a California home after weeks of failed removal attempts

The bear was eventually removed after Johnson contacted the BEAR League, an organization specializing in bear removal emergencies in Lake Tahoe, located seven hours north of Altadena.

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The Bears League told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the organization is “happy to help Ken Johnson with this bear.”

“A Southern California homeowner had a large bear living under his home for more than a month before reaching out to the Bear League for help,” the organization added in a post on Facebook Thursday.

The BEAR League told Fox News Digital that the league used paintballs filled with vegetable oil that hit bears in the back. The wildlife rescue group is said to have completed the task in less than 20 minutes.

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“After earlier removal attempts by state wildlife officials failed, BEAR League first responders Scott and Dave traveled to the Los Angeles area to assist,” the organization added. “Scott, one of our most experienced responders, crawled under the house – fully aware the bear was still there – to follow him and encourage him to get out of the crawl space opening.”

To prevent bears from again eavesdropping on the crawl space, the organization said it “loaned the homeowner electric junk mats to secure the crawl space to give them time to make repairs and prevent another visit.”

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According to social media footage posted by the organization, the mat worked as designed and the bear escaped after returning.

The BEAR League emphasized that residents should be vigilant about having open crawl spaces, noting that properly protecting them helps people safely coexist with wildlife.

“We remind residents of bear country that poorly-protected crawl spaces are an open invitation to winter visitors like bears,” the league told Fox News Digital. “The BEAR League responds to the Lake Tahoe area multiple times a day this time of year, and we’ve done so for 30 years at no cost to the homeowner. We work hard to educate people who share space with bears that if people take a few very simple steps, they can coexist with bears.”

Tuesday’s success ended a long streak of failed removal attempts by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for more than a month to remove the bear. At one point, the trap even caught the wrong bear. Attempts that included baiting, noisemakers and even snaring to catch the wrong bear were unsuccessful.

Original article source: The 550-pound bear was finally kicked out of its California home after a bizarre tactic ended the month-long ordeal