In California, five bears spent the winter hibernating under the house

A homeowner near the California-Nevada border was surprised to find five bears hibernating under her house.

At one point during the winter, she and other residents of the house thought they heard a strange low rumble that sounded like snoring, but they made no attempt to determine the cause of the sounds.

Earlier this week, sounds were heard from under the house that could unmistakably identify a bear that had woken up after a long nap. Shortly thereafter, a mother bear crawled out from under the house, followed by four year-old cubs.

The family of black bears had probably been under the house for about four months. That’s the conclusion reached by experts at the Bear League, a Lake Tahoe area nonprofit organization that aims to “keep bears safe in their natural habitat.”

“The Bear League said bear wintering under people’s homes is not an uncommon occurrence in the area.

About 50 to 100 bears sleep under houses during the winter. Most of the time it goes unnoticed and no one bothers the animals, the organization said.