How one Tahoe renter is adjusting to unusual roommates: Mama bear and 3 cubs

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When a renter moved into a Lake Tahoe cabin this winter, he expected to have the place to himself.But a well-known black bear in the area, known as Rose, had other plans for the home, having already settled into her new den in the home’s crawl space.“As soon as he moved in, he started hearing babies crying under his floorboards,” said Anne Bryant, the executive director of BEAR League, a Tahoe-area nonprofit dedicating to keeping bears “safe and wild.” The renter called the group to help check on the noises he was hearing, and they soon confirmed it was Rose and her new cubs.The renter is now gearing up to spend the rest of the winter with his four furry roommates.“He’s being very protective,” Bryant said of the renter, whom the group isn’t identifying to help protect the bears’ location.

“He’s like the papa bear.”Bryant and her group are now helping the man adjust to his new guests, having set up cameras to monitor the bears, for both their safety and that of the home, Bryant said.Video from the group captured the tiny cubs crying, feeding and cuddling with their mom, but mostly the family sleeps.

Although the nonprofit will help residents remove bears from crawl spaces — a location that has become increasingly enticing for hibernating bears — after cubs are born, they need to stay in a warm, safe place to survive.Bryant expects the family will remain in the crawl space until about April.

California A 550-pound male black bear wedged itself into the crawl space underneath an Altadena home just after Thanksgiving.Officials tried air horns, cherry and caramel flavored bait and even a trap that caught the wrong bear.“It happens every winter,” she said.

Some residents are less accepting of the situation.This man, however, has embraced it, so much so that he already has named the cubs: Echo, Oakley and Storm.

Bryant estimates they’re almost a ...