Unsecured Tahoe crawl spaces damaged by bears seeking to hibernate

By Adrienne Moore

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    TAHOE, California (KOVR) — Secure your crawl spaces.

That’s been the message from the Bear League for months now. The problem is that many homeowners in Tahoe aren’t listening. In some cases, it’s led to thousands of dollars worth of damage to their properties.

Bears can break pipes, tear up insulation, and destroy duct work under homes. It’s a costly situation that the Bear League says also leads to one big hibernation headache.

One heavy-duty dude got the boot too after making himself at home in an open crawl space to hibernate. In the process, the bear busted thousands of dollars worth of gas lines and water pipes and tore apart insulation along the way.

“There is not a day that goes by that the Bear League doesn’t receive a call about ‘I’ve got a bear under my deck’ or ‘I’ve got a bear under my house, can you come and do something?’ ” said Ann Bryant, the executive director of the Bear League.

Bryant painted the picture of the troubles plaguing Tahoe just over the last week.

“We have moved 8-10 separate bears from under homes across the Tahoe Basin,” she said. “We’re running all over the place doing this.”

Bryant said the crawl space crisis also hijacks a bear’s hibernation process.

“We are out there waking them up in the middle of their natural sleep cycle and we’re chasing them out,” Bryant said. “And we don’t like having to do that.”

It’s a seasonal failure in securing homes that could set the stage for some steep and costly consequences.

“That crawl space door has to be as secure as your front door,” Bryant said.

The materials you use to secure a crawl space make all the difference; Cardboard, rocks, logs — those don’t work. Bryant said you need thick plywood that fits inside the seams so you don’t end up with a furry roommate for the winter.

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