- Shocking footage shows an environmental activist descending into a crawl space to remove a giant bear from under an inhabited house
- Using only a paintball gun, wildlife enthusiast Toogee Sielsch crawled beneath the property before shooting the bear at least eight times
- The daring Californian stayed in the confined space as he shot the beast out of the crawl space, assuring viewers that the bear was not injured afterward.
Shocking footage captured the moment a daring wildlife lover cleared a bear from under a house by shooting the bear several times with a paintball gun.
Toogee Sielsch, an environmental activist in South Lake Tahoe, California, shared an excerpt of himself this week descending into a crawl space in a bizarre – and successful – attempt to get the bear out from under an inhabited house.
The video begins with Sielsch hunched over an opening of the crawl space, aiming his paintball gun into the darkness in preparation.
“Don't even think about doing what I did there unless you have YEARS of training and experience,” he warned.
Toogee Sielsch this week shared daring footage of himself descending into a bear-inhabited crawl space, armed only with a paintball gun
The environmentalist said he released the bear because it was in an occupied home, although he adopted a braver strategy than most
The wildlife lover was seen entering the dark crawl space before several shots were heard as he peppered the bear with paintball grenades.
The nature lover, who regularly shares clips of his encounters with animals around Lake Tahoe, particularly bears, then withdrew his gun and took a brave step inside.
After crawling into the cramped space on their hands and knees, several paintball shots are heard under the house, with only the opening visible in the clip.
While Sielsch remained inside with the bear, a final shot was heard before the animal came running out of the house.
Another person outside the house exclaimed, “He's a big bear, oh my goodness,” while Sielsch called the bear a “good boy” as he sped away.
“Oh yeah, he weighs 500 pounds easily,” Sielsch added.
While some may not like seeing the bear get shot by a paintball gun, the environmentalist insisted Instagram report that the enormous animal was not injured.
“I promise he's fine,” he said. “And in winter he will certainly find a safer place.”
As the last shot was fired, the bear came running out of the crawl space as a witness shouted, “He's a big bear, oh my god.”
Sielsch noted that the bear must have weighed “easily 500 pounds” when it burst out of space
He said the encounter gave him “good news and heavy love news” – with the good news being that he finally saw the bear, branded B33, for the first time since November.
But even though he loves the giant porpoises, Sielsch said he had no choice but to kick the creature out of his home.
“I had to evict him from under an occupied house he had broken into – Boo!” he said.
While many may have been way ahead of him, Sielsch also warned viewers not to copy him by entering a confined space with a bear.
“Don't even think about doing what I did there unless you have YEARS of training and experience!”
Toogee Sielsch (pictured) regularly shares clips of his encounters with nature, especially bears, around Lake Tahoe in California
Sielsch revealed that he has a long track record of tracking B33, which he named after a previous encounter where he discovered he had a collar around his neck after being tagged.
He told Fox news that the bear weighed only about 150 pounds at the time, before finding it a year later weighing 400 pounds – still with the tag around its neck.
The animal's pain prompted him to call wildlife officials and they were able to calm and remove the bear, an action that may have saved its life.
He said he conducts about 30 bear releases a year, though his aggressive approach to removing B33 may have to do with the years the two have known each other.