- Shocking footage showed an environmentalist descending into a crawlspace to scare away a huge bear from underneath an occupied home
- With only a paintball gun, nature lover Toogee Sielsch crawled under the property before shooting the bear at least eight times
- The brave Californian remained in the confined space as he shot the beast out of the crawlspace, then reassured onlookers that the bear was unharmed
Shocking footage captured the moment a brave nature lover scared a bear away from under a house by shooting the bear multiple times with a paintball gun.
Toogee Sielsch, an environmentalist from South Lake Tahoe, California, shared a clip this week of himself descending into a crawlspace in a strange – and successful – attempt to retrieve the bear from beneath an occupied home.
The video begins with Sielsch crouching at an opening in the crawlspace, 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 shared daring footage this week of himself descending into a bear-inhabited crawlspace armed only with a paintball gun
The environmentalist said he chased the bear away because it was under an inhabited home, although he adopted a bolder strategy than most
The nature lover was seen moving into the dark crawlspace before several shots were heard as he fired paintball cartridges at the bear
The nature lover, who often shares clips of his encounters with animals around Lake Tahoe, particularly bears, then pulled his gun back as he took a bold step inside.
After crawling into the narrow space on all fours, several paintball shots can be heard from underneath the house, although only the opening is visible in the clip.
As Sielsch stayed inside with the bear, one last shot was heard before the beast jumped out of the house.
Another person outside the home shouted, “He's a big bear, oh my God,” while Sielsch called the bear a “good boy” as it scurried away.
“Oh yeah, he easily weighs 500 pounds,” Sielsch added.
While some may not like the bear being shot with a paintball gun, the environmentalist insisted in an Instagram post that the giant animal was not harmed.
“I promise he’s okay,” he said. “And he will definitely find another, safer place over the winter.”
As a final shot was fired, the bear ran out of the crawlspace as a witness exclaimed, “He's a big bear, oh my God.”
Sielsch noted that the bear must have weighed “easily 500 pounds” when it burst from space
He said the encounter gave him “good news and tough love news” – with the good news being that he had finally seen the bear marked B33 again, for the first time since November.
But even though he loves the giant brown bears, Sielsch said he had no choice but to kick the creature from its home.
“I had to throw him out from under an occupied house he broke into – boo!” he said.
While many may have been way ahead of him, Sielsch also warned viewers not to imitate 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) often shares clips of his encounters with nature – especially bears – around Lake Tahoe in California
Sielsch revealed that he has been following B33 for a long time. He named it after a previous encounter where he noticed it was wearing a collar around its neck after being tagged.
He told Fox News that the bear only weighed about 150 pounds at the time before he found it a year later weighing 400 pounds – still with the tag around its neck.
The pain the animal was suffering caused him to call wildlife officials. They were able to calm the bear and remove it, which might have saved its life.
He said he conducts about 30 bear removals a year, although his aggressive approach to removing B33 may be due to the years the two have known each other.
Shocking video shows bear crawling out from under a house after being shot with a paintball gun EIGHT times: Nature-loving shooter insists the giant creature was unharmed