Communicating With Bears: Black Bears
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- Tina_Coruth
- ConnieT
- JerryBear
- ConnieT
- JerryBear
- ConnieT
- JerryBear
- bearphotos
- JerryBear
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» Tina_Coruth - Very interesting!
Very interesting! I live in a somewhat rural area of Southern NH. There have been many black bear sightings in my part of town over the last couple of years -- in the Spring. A couple of years ago, I was awakened to the sound of screaming. I thought one of the neighbors was being beaten. I went to the back door since that seemed to be the general direction of the screaming. There's a small pond there, and I saw something running across the far side of the pond. In the darkness it looked like a large,heavy set dog. I had the outside light on. I thought something was trying to get at the ducks (we had several disappear) so I started clapping my hands and yelling. Then I heard a thunderous crashing through the woods like I never heard before in my life!I went back in the house - toute suite! The next day, a neighbor called to say that a black bear and a cub had been spotted in the area.So you can see, I'm glad to know what to do if I run into one -- spring is coming! Thanks for the valuable information!!
Christina
-- posted by Tina_Coruth
» ConnieT - Communicating With Bears
Hi Jerry,I really enjoyed this article. You have a completely different approach to dealing with bears than I do. I'm not sure I would want to try to calm a bear by standing there smiling or anything else but your suggestions do make sense. And I will keep these in mind when summer returns and the kids and I are leisurely out walking along the mountain trails.
-- posted by ConnieT
» JerryBear - Thanks! and some additions...
Thank you very much for your illustrative observations!I would like to add a few more details.
First, it is better to let bears approach you than you approach them. However scared you are of them, they are usually still more scared of you.
Second, if you want to observe bears from fairly close range, it is better ti crouch or sit down. They find this reassuring. Bears sometimes rise up on two legs to be intimidating, but usually it is to get a better view of things. It is a sign of curiousity.
Bears also make a kind of crooning noise when two or more are feeding in close quarters. It seems to help establish territoriality. If you have several together, they will each try to croon on a different note. Adult bears tend to make various blowing sounds rather than use their vocal cords, but when they do the sound is very resonant and can be rather musical.
I know of only one observation of a black bear doing the high-stepping, strutting "Grizzly Victory Dance", but since it was a large male doing it after smelling the tracks of a female in heat, it is a possible black bear behavior.
Finally, mama bears tend to send their cubs up into a tree with a "Woof! " sound or by drumming on the tree trunk with their paws. To call them back down, they make this deep "clunking" sound from way down their throats. When bears are being relaxed and friendly with each other, they sometimes make companionable grunty noises. A stronger, sharper grunting may indicate a mama bear's concern for a developing situation.
I would appreciate anyone here writing about any sounds they have heard bears make.
Appreciatively,
JerryBear
-- posted by JerryBear
» ConnieT - Bear Sounds
Hiya JerryBear,I know some experts say that bears don't "growl" but I heard what sounded like a growl or roar from a grizzly sow and this is a true story.
It was a windy day and hidden down along the banks of the river, two boys enjoyed some fishing...for awhile. The sow could not smell them and the boys could not see her as she made a quiet journey with her young down the trail. The sow stops at the top of the river bank, stands on her hind legs, and exerts this unearthly sound. She retreats forward only to display a fake charge. The two boys scramble up the bank of loose dirt and rocks, their faces white and full of terror.
Swiftly, the sow and three cubs swim across the river, turning to us as if to say, heed my warning. I watch as she paces back and forth,
giving us spectators a grizzly evil eye. She slaps the ground with her paws and you can hear every deep grunt. She then gathers her cubs and disappears into the thick brush. The two boys were lucky and weren’t hurt.
The sound from this grizzly was like a roar and it echoed. It was nothing compared to a simple grunt. Black bears that I've seen either don't make any noise or it is more of a low keyed grunt. The fact that this grizzly was surprised by these boys, her growl,grunt or whatever you'd like call it, was more intense than what is considered a normal sound.
-- posted by ConnieT
» JerryBear - Growly Bears
Hi Connie!I think your sources were referring to black bears, which seldom growl or roar. Grizzlies do it a lot! They can also make an appalling noise that sounds just like a person in the last stages of being tortured to death. This is most likely if the bear is really frustrated over something. Several of my links have recorded grizzly growls, a sound that seems to just drip with menace and murder.
Have you heard any other sounds?
JerryBear
P.S. Cubs seem to be the noisiest by far!
-- posted by JerryBear
» ConnieT - Sounds
Hi JerryBear,The article I read did refer to the grizzly but obviously this person has never heard first hand the sound a grizzly makes. That was the only time I'd heard a grizzly roar and black bears I've only heard grunts.
Other animals make some interesting sounds. The whitetail deer makes a "snorting" type of sound when startled. And this enough to raise the hairs on one's neck and arms! I've also come face to face with a coyote who tends to bark just like a dog.
But as far as bears go, I haven't had much opportunity to hear too many sounds from them.
-- posted by ConnieT
» JerryBear - Bear Sounds
Hi Connie!Bears make a lot of similar sounds, but there are some differences. Black bears are quiter than grizzly bears, which tend to be the noisiest. Black bears are apt to go Woof! as a mark of alarm, surprise or excitement, but grizzlies often go Whoosh! and polar bears go Chuff!
Black bears sometimes hiss like a big cat but polar bears commonly do. Bears actually make quite a variety of sounds, but adults are usually fairly quiet. I think that grizzly adults are the most vocal. They are, at any rate, the ones most likely to growl (a most impressive and evocative sound) and roar . When grizzlies REALLY get going, you can hear them for miles, it is absolutely one of nature's most impressive sounds. If you hear two big male grizzlies roar furiously at close range while fighting it out, it can leave you shaken for days. Such an experience reaches far below the surface of the conscious mind down deep where our primal instincts lie. We are so out of touch with our deep animal instincts that it can be a truly shocking experience to have them suddenly awakened. Polar bears can roar most impressively too, but you are rather less likely to hear it. They are calmer and more even-tempered animals than grizzlies and are generally more sociable, cooperative and less aggressive towards each other too. Although polar bears are less likely to lose their tempers than grizzlies, their anger can be just as impressive when they finally do let it out.
Black bears, on the other hand, have a cooler, quieter style that is peculiarly their own, though some, especially big males are more grizzly like. Like some grizzlies, some black bears follow the dictum, "Don't get mad, get even!" I'll have to reserve details until my article on famous grizzly wars against the human race. No other animal gets revenge with the flair and style of a really pissed-off grizzly. Some of these vindictive critters have outsmarted the best human minds for years on end in their guerilla campaigns and earned reputations for absolutely diabolical cunning.
Yours Respectfully,
JerryBear
-- posted by JerryBear
» bearphotos - bear comunications
I have been reading about and studying black bears in Virginia for years.Let me start out by saying that all i have read here is both truthful and informative. I have simply always stomped my foot to get a bear to leave and it has worked all but once.I was within 30 feet of an old male who was unaware of my presence. I was in total camo which is they way i would normally be when sneaking up on bears.
when he finally smelled me he became quite agitated and began some huffing and pawing ground then did something that set me back a little, he shook his head and well sort of snarled, and looked me right in the eye as if to say begone you fool. When i removed my camo over my face he did calm down a little which i have found to be the norm when detected i remove the camo from face.
Because of the unusual behavior of this one i chose to back out quitely and he appeared to approve of that.
The better part of valor being a graceful retreat.
shttrbug2@aol.com
-- posted by bearphotos
» JerryBear - Giving Due Respect
Hi, Shutterbug!You did the right thing! You had obviously inconvenienced a really dominant bear, one of the lords of the forest. By staring you directly in the eye like that after making typical "Go away!" signals, he was letting you know that he was not going to be intimidated by the likes of YOU. By showing your face, you confirmed his suspicion that you were human, and by backing off, you showed due respect, thus his approval. Really big male black bears can be almost like grizzlies in their stubborn cantankerousness, but they are far less likely to descend to actual violence.
Nevertheless, these big guys will sometimes stand up even to grizzlies when they feel really annoyed---and the grizzlies will back down! In areas where the two species coexist (sometimes in a tacit state of war), grizzlies may be quite unhesitating about chasing or ambushing a black bear, but they will be very reluctant to take one on frontally in a fair fight.
I only have one account of such a combat (from Alaska in the early part of this century), and it resulted in a 350 female black bear killing a male grizzly twice her size. She, of course, was herself mortally wounded, but she left HIS cooling corpse stretched out on the ground as she slowly stalked away, growling softly and dragging her guts behind her to find her own place to die on the mountain. Her greater agility and endurance had won out over his greater strength and aggressiveness. Both bears had administered killing blows by locking their front legs and jaws together and bringing up their hind legs to claw at the belly to disembowel their opponents. Since bears usually don't try to fight to the death, this is a maneuver that is rarely seen.
It might surprise you, but grizzlies follow a fairly strict "honor code" when fighting among their own species, though some of the nastier bullies among the big males deliberately ignore it in attacking weaker males or females. It seems this "honor code" does NOT apply to fights between different species, and thus the greater caution about getting into such a combat.
Grizzlies hate to lose face by giving way to a human, and the greater level of intraspecies violence typical of their kind makes them far more paranoid and mean about being surprised. If you ever end up in a similar situation with a grizzly, expect it to be far more ticklish! You must be more deferential, yet you CANNOT back down and in any way act scared. You are locked into a delicate yet dangerous dominance game as soon as you and the bear become aware of each other.
Don't be in too big a hurry to shoot, either. Hunters get killed all the time after shooting a grizzly (often the bear lives just long enough...), yet bear researchers have worked unarmed among grizzlies for years and endured hundreds of (incompleted) charges without being hurt. Guns are no substitute for brains, and your greatest guarantee of safety is understanding how they think, how to communicate with them, and how to fit into their world without being too big a problem to them. Remember that grizzlies have a fierce and touchy pride. If you know how to defuse a tense situation involving Hell's Angels in a tough biker bar, you have the right attitude for dealing with a grizzly. The rest of you keep your distance!
Some other signals besides stamping your feet that would reinforce your message "I'm dominate and you are in my way!" that black bears would understand include: hissing, clapping your hands loudly together, making huffing and puffing noises(the most common signal of black bear indignation), breaking twigs, whacking the ground or nearby objects with a stick, glaring directly into the bear's eyes, pretending to lunge at the bear, and throwing gravel at the bear's feet.
Don't throw rocks (especially at the head or larger than a golf ball) or hit a bear hard with a stick, if you REALLY hurt the bear, you could be in serious trouble. A circus black bear once killed a lion who attacked him with a single blow, so you don't want to get into a genuine fight with the critter.
Now, you simply are not going to encounter a predatory black bear in the East (from the Appalachians to the Atlantic), but if you were in Western Canada and were being attacked by a predatory black bear, then you would disregard all the above advice and attack with everything you have and fight as dirty as possible. It may well do no good, but people have saved their lives by fighting hard enough to convince the bear that the human was more trouble than he was worth as prey; likewise people have gotten killed who could have easily driven off a marginally predacious bear by being too passive.
However, don't worry about this in the Eastern U.S.; all serious maulings there have involved black bears that were badly hurt by humans or whose cubs were injured. From Nova Scotia to Florida, nobody has been killed by a black bear along the eastern edge of North America in more than a century.
Finally, if you are on a trail and you see a big black bear coming (or any female with cubs) and he DOES NOT give way, then YOU should be the one to give way and walk off the trail. After all, you are just showing proper respect for a lord of the forest. On the other hand, if you are dealing with a young "teen age" bear, then you should usually insist on the right of way. It doesn't do to let the young whipper-snappers think they can get away with pushing humans around! Bear researchers even do this with half-grown grizzlies recently driven away by their mothers. Such bears are nicknamed "hooligans" (with good reason) by the researchers and often seem compelled to "test" humans. To avoid future problems, the researchers make a point of acting dominant and refusing to be intimidated.
I hope you found all this interesting!
Jerry
-- posted by JerryBear
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