A Los Angeles resident who fled his home amid recent wildfires says he returned to find an enormous black bear in the crawlspace.
Samy Arbid, 41, was unaware of his new lodger until utility workers called to restore power to the property after the Eaton Fire, California’s second-most destructive wildfire in history.
‘We ended up putting a ring camera with a light on it under the crawlspace and found out we have a giant bear under there’, Mr Arbid told CBS News.
The 525lb (240kg) animal – nicknamed Berry – was too big to tranquilise and drag out, so wildlife experts lured him out with a ‘feast’, Mr Arbid added.
The menu included ‘apples, peanut butter and some rotisserie chicken’, city environmental scientist Kevin Howells told KTLA news.
It wasn’t long before Berry took the bait and was humanely captured, though the process was ‘nerve-wracking’, Mr Arbid said.
Berry was then given a welfare check and GPS collar before being released in Angeles National Forest.
A biologist present for the capture reportedly described Berry as the biggest bear he’d ever seen in person.
It’s thought Berry took shelter in Mr Arbid’s crawlspace to survive the fire, which killed 17 people and destroyed 9,000 structures.
‘I think during the fire he pretty much stayed in there,’ Mr Arbid said. ‘I think he was scared.’
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