Family in California finds five bears hibernating under their house

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The family heard 'odd snoring-like noises' as the animals slept

A family in California got an un-BEAR-lievable surprise recently, when they found not one - but FIVE - bears sleeping under their home!

They say they heard some 'odd rumbling, snoring-like noises' but decided to ignore it as they thought it didn't make any sense.

Even their neighbours said they must have been imagining the sounds because they didn't hear anything.

However, it turned out the five bears - a mother bear, her three cubs and a fourth adopted cub - had spent the winter months hibernating under the floorboards of their house!

What happened?

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Black bears usually live in forests but they can also be found living in mountains and swamps

The Bear League Group, an organisation that helps keep bears safe in California, posted on social media that they were recently contacted by the family and went straight over to the house.

"The bear family awoke and prepared to exit, and the people in the house could no longer deny there was probably a bear under the house," they wrote.

Black bears usually come out of hibernation around this time of year, as temperatures start to warm up and they begin to search for food.

The group first saw the mother bear come out, but were surprised to find four more bears follow her from under the home!

They said, "It was quite the scene to then watch the four yearling cubs emerge from the opening and join together on the other side of the fence."

All five bears were able to safely leave the house and head back into the woods and they left no damage in the family's home.