Wildlife experts have set up a feast to lure a 500-pound bear that’s been living in the crawlspace of an Altadena home.
Cort Klopping, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told KNX News’ Karen Adams that officials tried everything, including ammonia and the smell of cherries and caramel, to lure the bear out. He believes the bear was spooked by all the attention he’s received.
But Klopping said they might have the bait to get him to come out.
“They kind of threw the kitchen sink in there - rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, apples, oranges, shrimp, sardines, peanut butter,” he said. “These are all foods that bears would really love to get their hands on. So it's going to be hard for this bear to resist kind of going for it once it does come out.”
The trap was set up in the yard of the neighbor's home on Altadena Drive, as the area around the entrance to the crawl space is just too narrow and small.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
And yes, the bear can smell that far.
“They can smell from five miles away,” Klopping said. “They have a nose that's 100 times more powerful than a human, eight times more powerful than a bloodhound, believe it or not.”
Once captured, the bear will be relocated to a less populated area.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok