California Man Reveals How He Shares Family Home with Black Bear: ‘He Does Leave Piles of Scat’

The homeowners have named the bear "Junior," following his return to their home every morning the past two weeks

One Los Angeles couple has a new tenant taking up space in their home's crawlspace.

Bob and Susan Nesler have been visited by a black bear at their home in the San Gabriel Valley foothills in recent weeks, per NBC News, ABC 7, and Northern News. 

The bear, whom the couple named “Junior,” leaves the crawlspace every night to forage for food and then returns early in the morning to the hole he created in the house’s porch. The couple said Junior has been paying them visits for the past two weeks.

"Apparently he leaves to go out on the town in the evening, and then he comes back about 5:30 in the morning," Bob told ABC 7.

Related: Roommates Fend Off Persistent Bear Trying to Enter California Home Through Sliding Door — Watch!

"That's his den right now. We gotta get him out of there because, you know, I think we'd be held responsible if anybody got hurt, but he hasn't bothered us in any way," he said.

Bob told ABC 7 that the couple isn’t afraid of the bear. "They're not dangerous creatures at all, unless you're a trash can." He also told NBC News that his “biggest complaint” is that Junior “does leave piles of scat.” According to the Department of Environment and Water, scat is wild animal poo.

Susan also told Northern News that they’re used to wildlife. “We get bears, coyotes. I had a rabbit shoot through the yard, followed by a bobcat,” she said.

“He’s just an old bear,” Bob explained to Northern News.”He needed a place to make into a den.”

Related: California Bear Nicknamed Oreo After Sneaking into Multiple Homes to Steal the Cookies

Since the bear’s arrival, they have captured several photos on a motion-activated camera installed by California Fish and Wildlife agents. The various images photograph the older large black bear in his makeshift den.

And with access to photos of their new neighbor, Bob, a retired Hollywood animator known for his work on Yogi Bear, has begun sketching Junior, per ABC 7.

The Neslers have contacted wildlife officials but told them they only want Junior removed if it can be done humanely.

“We would wait for the bear to leave the crawlspace,” said Kevin Howells, California Department of Fish and Wildlife human-wildlife conflict biologist, per NBC News. “And then, I would work with the homeowner to maybe get that space boarded up with something more robust.”

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While Junior is a black bear, his coat is brown; it is common for the species to range in colors from blonde to black fur. Male black bears range between 350 pounds to 600 pounds, whereas female black bears grow up to be about 200 pounds, according to the California Department of Wildlife and Fish.

The state’s black bear population is currently estimated to be between 50,000-81,000.

Around 50% of the population lives in the North Coast and Cascade regions; another 40% lives in Sierra Nevada at slightly lower densities. The final 10% lives around the Central Coast and South Coast at much lower densities.

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