When a bear gets inside or even under your home, there's a new business you can call for help.
"The thing about bears, they're not the most graceful animals," wildlife biologist Jessica West said. "If something is in their way, they pummel right through or in this case they bend it out of their way."
West just launched "Wild Neighbor," a new business helping people bear-proof their homes. After five years with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, West realized the agency could only do so much to help homeowners because of budget cuts and resource constraints.
Her most recent project was at an Altadena home that's under repair after the Eaton Fire. She was hired not only to climb under the home and make sure the bear was successfully removed, but to take steps to make sure it didn't return.
"The homeowner was kind of at a loss," West said. "She's going, 'What do I do? There might be a bear in my house."
To deter the bear from coming back, West placed an electrified "unwelcome mat" that's designed to give the animal a little jolt but not to harm them.
"For a bear, to have this little zap on their paw or on their nose or their tongue, there's nothing like that out in nature," West said.
Wild Neighbor also installs surveillance along with lights and sounds to scare the bears away.
"I saw this need. I saw that human-bear conflict is not going away," West said. "Bears are here. They're here to stay. Humans are here. We're here to stay. So, what can we do to try to prevent these conflicts?"
She hopes her work will keep both bears and humans safe.
"I'm really just trying to be a resource for the communities," West said.
