Talk About a Roommate: Altadena Man Discovers a Bear Had Been Living Under His Home for Months!

Picture this: you're just living your life, puttering around the house, maybe hearing a few bumps and scrapes from below. You shrug it off, thinking, "Oh, probably just a raccoon, maybe a possum." That's pretty much what Paul Atkinson of Altadena, California, thought for a good long while. But oh, how wrong he was – in the most wild, unexpected way imaginable.

Turns out, those little noises weren't from some garden-variety critter. Nope. What Mr. Atkinson eventually discovered was a full-grown black bear, affectionately nicknamed "Scarlett," who had apparently decided his crawl space offered the perfect, cozy den. And get this: she'd been chilling there for what felt like months! Can you even imagine the sheer surprise, the absolute double-take moment when that realization hit?

Paul first started noticing things back in December – muffled thumps and bumps coming from right underneath his home. At first, he genuinely believed it was just a local raccoon causing a bit of mischief. Who wouldn't, right? A bear, though? That’s not usually the top suspect when you hear bumps in the night, especially not inside your property's foundation. But as the sounds persisted and perhaps grew a little… louder, a nagging suspicion must have started to brew.

The truth finally came out when he saw the massive animal for himself. This wasn't just any bear; it was Scarlett, a well-known local matriarch who often ambles through the Altadena neighborhoods, sometimes with a few cubs trailing behind her. Finding her nestled comfortably in his crawl space, potentially denning – perhaps even preparing for new arrivals – certainly shifted the entire perspective from "mild annoyance" to "holy cow, there's a bear under my house!"

Naturally, a situation like this calls for professional help. Paul reached out to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who, I'm sure, have heard their fair share of unusual animal encounters, but even this one must have raised an eyebrow or two. Their wildlife experts quickly sprang into action. It's not every day you have to evict a bear from a residential crawl space, after all.

The team carefully tranquilized Scarlett, ensuring both her safety and the safety of everyone involved. Once she was gently sedated, they were able to safely remove her from her makeshift urban den. The good news is, Scarlett wasn't harmed, and neither was Mr. Atkinson or his home. She was then relocated to a much more appropriate, wilder habitat, far away from suburban crawl spaces, where she could den and raise any potential cubs in peace and quiet.

For Paul Atkinson, it must have been a mix of profound relief and perhaps a touch of awe. Living side-by-side with nature is one thing, but having a large, furry, hibernating neighbor literally underfoot? That’s a story he'll certainly be telling for years to come. It just goes to show, you never quite know what surprises might be lurking beneath your very own floorboards!