Mother bear makes home under California house

MONROVIA, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) - It is not unusual to call the exterminator about pests in your basement or crawl space, but imagine finding out those pests are bears.

Jerry Shutman discovered a mother bear and her cub had made themselves a home inside of the crawl space of his home.

He first noticed the pair in his yard early Monday morning.

“I looked out the window and checked the cover on the crawl space, and it had been dislodged,” Shutman said.

He said that the bear and her cub have been in his crawl space before but always left shortly afterwards.

Recently, Shutman noticed that the mother bear is now dragging plants and clumps of grass to the crawl space.

“My guess is she’s going to have a baby, a cub, but I don’t know for sure,” he said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said they are starting to see bears making themselves a home in crawl spaces more often.

The bears are searching for dens for the cold months ahead, and some are choosing a house instead of a natural den.

“I’m worried. They make a mess. They tear up the insulation underneath. I know that’s already happened, and I’m afraid that they’re going to tear electrical wires,” Shutman said.