California man chases bear from crawl space with paintball gun
A California nature enthusiast with a squatting black bear under his home chased the estimated 500 pound beast out with a paintball gun. Credit: Toogee Sielsch via Storyful
A South Lake Tahoe, California nature enthusiast took matters into his hands when he evicted a big black bear that decided to squat in a crawlspace under a house by crawling into the space and firing several shots from a paintball gun to get the bear to flee.
Toogee Sielsch’s Instagram page is covered with videos and photos of animal encounters he has had in the South Lake Tahoe area. He says in his profile that his focus is on South Lake Tahoe’s urbanized black bear population.
In a video taken on Dec. 26, 2023, Sielsch is seen peeking into an opening to a crawl space under a building while pointing a paintball gun inside.
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He then goes into the crawl space on all fours before disappearing.
Moments later, the sound of the paintball gun can be heard popping off eight times before a massive black bear ran out from underneath the structure.
Toogee Sielsch of the South Lake Tahoe, California area evicted a bear attempting to make a crawlspace under a house its place for hibernation, using a paintball gun. (Toogee Sielsch via Storyful)
As the bear exited the space, the paintball gun could be heard firing at least one more time.
Sielsch is heard calling the bear, who he calls "B," a good boy after it ran out from underneath the building.
One person standing outside is heard saying, "He’s a big bear, oh my goodness."
Toogee Sielsch used a paintball gun to evict a black bear from under a home in South Lake Tahoe, California. (Toogee Sielsch via Storyful)
"Oh yeah, he’s 500 pounds, easy," Sielsch said as he emerged from inside with a flashlight in hand.
In a post on Instagram, Sielsch said he had good news and tough love news.
The good news was he found B33, which he had not seen since early November.
The bad news, Sielsch noted, was he had to evict B33 from under an occupied house.
"I promise he’s just fine and will surely find another safer spot to [go] over winter," Sielsch said. "PS, don’t even think about doing what I did there unless you have years of training and experience."
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The name, Sielsch told Fox News Digital, came from an earlier encounter with the bear when it had a collar on its neck after being tagged.
One of the first encounters he had with the bear was when it weighed about 150 pounds and had a collar on it. Then, about a year later, the bear had grown to 400 pounds and still had the collar on it.
After making a few calls, he and wildlife officials were able to tranquilize the bear and remove the collar, saving its life.
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Sielsch said over the years, he has gotten to know the bear very well and the two are familiar with each other.
He also said the bear has been one of his greatest mentors and muses when it comes to learning so much of what he knows about bear behavior.
He performs about 30 evictions of bears a year, and he does each one for free.
The type of encounter Sielsch had earlier this week is not uncommon.
He performs about 30 evictions of bears a year, and he does each one for free.
"It's kind of become my passion," Sielsch said, adding it is not his job.
After evicting a bear, many times he hands out an electric bear mat, which is livestock fencing with electric voltage put into a mat, to help deter bears from returning. "I love my community and this is how I pay them back."
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He also told Fox News Digital he does not always crawl under homes like he did this week, nor does he use paintball guns too often. Many times, Sielsch said, he will shout to get a bear to move.
Sielsch reiterated what he posted on Instagram, saying that unless someone has years and years of training and experience as he has, they should not crawl under a home with a bear.
"Safety is the most important factor," he said.
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Earlier this year, Sielsch captured a black bear crawling under a structure on video, as the local population had started to emerge from their urban dens.
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