‘This winter was a record’: More than 100 hibernating bears evicted from Tahoe homes this spring

TAHOE CITY, Calif. (KMAX/KOVR) – A Northern California community is tasked with carrying out more than 100 evictions. The residents are unemployed, easily agitated, and very furry.

The majority of evictions in Tahoe City are happening at vacation homes, with sometimes eight bears removed per day. Those bears then usually just find another home to hide under.

People have used various tools to scare off the black bears, including paintball guns.

Once the bears are out, it’s up to the owners to upgrade their home’s doors and windows to keep the animals out.

Even with a secured crawlspace, one bear on a mission for warmth was able to find another way into a church.

The church’s pastor, Edward Hilton, said he knew something was off when the chapel wasn’t heating up, so he called a contractor.

“While he was underneath, the contractor came face to face with a hibernating bear and immediately ran out,” he said.

The bear spent about a month of his hibernation hogging up the heat under the back deck.

Hilton said he called in the executive director of the BEAR League, Ann Bryant, to evict the bear.

“It’s just the bears doing what they need to after people took over what has historically been their forest,” she said.

Bryant said the bears have taken to burrowing near human homes rather than in their natural habitat because people are unintentionally inviting the bears in by leaving crawl spaces open and food out. She said the solution to the problem is for people to secure their spaces.

“The problem is more and more tourism and more and more people coming up here for vacation and forgetting to bring their brains with them,” she said.

Bryand said she does not expect the disrupted sleep will impact bear behavior. But she said she doesn’t expect the bears to go anywhere as long as people keep inviting them in.

There is still snow on the ground in Tahoe, and the bears are waking up from their hibernation both thirsty and hungry.

Experts said it’s important for people to be cautious of the wakening bears this spring.

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