Last Saturday, a family in Sevier County, Tennessee smelled a gas leak in their home and called the utility company to come and check it out.

The repair crew thought it would be a simple case of fixing the leak and going home.

After entering the crawlspace under the home, the workers discovered "the ample caboose of a very large snoozing bear."

The workers called wildlife officers, who came to check it out. A Sargent David Sexton arrived at the home and determined that the bear might be the cause of the gas leak, but wanted to figure out a way to safely get it to leave.

Sexton also listened "carefully for a long time" to see if he could hear the sounds of cubs.

"The crawl space beneath a home is not a great place for a bear den, especially if there's a gas leak," said Appalachian Bear Rescue. "There was no way to know if the gas injured the bear, there was no way to safely repair the gas line while the bear was in residence, and there was no way to keep the home warm and habitable without repairing the gas line."

The officers returned to the house on Sunday and finally got the bear to "bolt," but soon discovered that it was indeed a momma bear with three little cubs she left behind in her hasty escape:

The cubs were driven to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine to protect them from the cold and then given to Appalachian Bear Rescue for care while authorities see if the mom returns to the home to look for them.

But Appalachian Bear Rescue says they haven't seen the mom thus far, and will be focusing on trying to get another momma bear to adopt the cubs once they're a bit older.

What none of these stories mentioned is how in the actual heck the homeowners didn't hear a BEAR under their house for weeks on end. Considering the young age of the cubs, she probably gave birth under there.

How in the world do you not hear a bear living under your floorboards?