Bear Shuffles Around Crawl Space Under South Lake Tahoe Property

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A 500-pound black bear has been winter denning under an abandoned property in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Footage by local nature enthusiast Toogee Sielsch shows the large male shuffle about the space. Speaking about the bear on Instagram, Sielsch said that it hasn’t gone into full hibernation and instead has entered into a state of torpor.

“Black bears in torpor lower their heart rate and metabolism, but they are still in an active and cognizant state spending hours waking and napping,” he said.

Sielsch said the bear crawled out of the space “to get 20 minutes of sun and fresh air.”

“They actually on occasion leave the den for short periods of time to lay outside in the sun and fresh air if the den entrance isn’t clogged up with snow,” he added.

Sielsch regularly posts photos and videos related to South Lake Tahoe’s “urbanized black bear population” on his Instagram page. Credit: Toogee Sielsch via Storyful

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