Yellow 2120 returns to an Altadena crawlspace as residents secure their homes

Yellow 2120, a tagged black bear known for sheltering beneath homes in Altadena, California, was spotted Monday, September 28, in the crawlspace of a house on Minoru Drive. He later left on his own, and the homeowners sealed the space, the Guardian reported. His return has prompted residents to secure access beneath their homes, while state wildlife officials reportedly have no current plan to relocate him.

What happened at the Minoru Drive home

Steve Clark, whose in-laws live at the house, said the family watched the bear through security cameras. They played loud music and used a leaf blower in an attempt to drive him out. Neither measure worked, according to the Guardian's account, but the bear eventually departed without being forced from the crawlspace.

Clark said he had not realised the bear could reach the rear access point. He told NBC Los Angeles, in remarks reported by the Guardian, that getting there meant tearing out ductwork and causing damage. The homeowners then sealed the crawlspace. The Guardian said neighbors were watching for the bear in case he sought another place to shelter; his location after leaving that property has not been established.

Other residents describe repeated attempts to enter homes

CBS Los Angeles separately reported that residents had seen the bear around the neighborhood in recent weeks. Todd Bayer said his security cameras recorded Yellow 2120 trying to enter a neighbor's house over Labor Day weekend. Bayer and his neighbor boarded up their crawlspaces, he said, but the bear later ripped open a screen and tore down a fence. Those incidents were reported separately from Monday's sighting on Minoru Drive.

Why wildlife officials have not relocated Yellow 2120

CBS Los Angeles reported that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife knows Yellow 2120 has returned. The station said officials did not intend to relocate him because they had received no reports of aggressive behavior. That account describes the agency's reported position at the time of the story; it does not establish what officials would do if the situation changed.

The bear has been moved before. CBS Los Angeles reported that wildlife officers captured and tagged him in 2025, then relocated him to the wilderness after he entered a home's crawlspace and ruptured a gas line. The report did not specify when that capture occurred. His return shows why residents are again focusing on access points beneath their houses, even after previous efforts to move him away.

A previous stay beneath an Altadena house

According to the Guardian, Yellow 2120 occupied another Altadena home's crawlspace for about two months after appearing there in November 2025. Homeowner Ken Johnson sought help from the state wildlife department. The bear remained despite attempts using sweet-smelling lures and towels soaked with ammonia; members of the volunteer Bear League eventually drove him out with paintball guns in January 2026.

Johnson's description of that earlier stay supplied the ‘unbearable’ nickname used in coverage of the bear. ‘He's a nuisance and he's living under my house rent-free,’ Johnson told the Orange County Register, as quoted by the Guardian. His remark described his experience at that house; it does not establish the bear's behavior toward people at the latest property.

What the Eaton fire does and does not explain

The neighborhood has also experienced encounters with other bears. After the January 2025 Eaton wildfire burned parts of Altadena and the Angeles National Forest, at least two bears weighing more than 500 pounds sheltered in homes evacuated during the fire, the Guardian reported. State wildlife spokesperson Cort Klopping said Yellow 2120 had occupied another Altadena home before, but the Guardian said it was unclear whether he was among the bears associated with those post-fire incidents.

Bayer told CBS Los Angeles that wildlife encounters seemed to have increased during his three decades in the area, particularly since the Eaton fire. That is his observation, rather than evidence that the fire caused this bear's latest visit. For now, the confirmed outcome on Minoru Drive is narrower: Yellow 2120 left the crawlspace, the homeowners sealed it, and officials reportedly have not planned another relocation.