When bears talk to you
Listen to Bear Sounds

You may be more fluent in bruin vocabulary than you think.
Ursine communication is not unlike communicating with your pet dog or any other canid. Bears convey information through a diverse range of body language, vocalizations and odour signals.

More often than not, bear behaviour is MISinterpreted. People all too often interpret what a bear does in terms of their own fear. To truly understand bear behaviour, you must interpret bear postures and vocalizations in terms of what the bear fears. For example, a black bear 'popping' its jaws, slapping the ground, or blowing (expelling air loudly), simply means the bear is nervous or apprehensive. According to Dr. Lynn Rogers, an expert on black bear behaviour, fearful people interpret any sound as a growl, a look as a glare, and walking towards them as coming for me.

The best advice anyone can give you is to learn as much as possible about bears and their behaviour; give bears a lot of space; and go with your 'gut' feeling. If any situation feels uncomfortable, back away and leave the area promptly.

Bears communicate in many different ways.
Bears communicate by seeing, touching, vocalizing and smelling. Their communication helps keep cubs and mothers together, find a mate, and relieve social tensions. Bears speak a language of dominance or submission; and of aggression or solicitation. They react to people in the same way they would react to another bear. Paying attention to what bears have to say,may keep you out of trouble.

Bears threaten one another. Although bears are large and powerful animals capable of causing injury to one another, they prefer to use threats and displays as an alternative to actual fighting. A bear may also use these same behaviours with people.

Bear behaviour can be predictable.
The more you can learn about bears and how they behave, the less likely you will be to have a negative encounter or misinterpret interactions.

A bear's body posture can communicate its mood.
Walking, running, sitting and lying down are actions conveying the bear is subordinate to another bear or person. The bear is saying it does not want to fight for dominance, a fishing spot, or an estrus female. Conversely, a bear can convey dominance by approaching at a walk or run.

A bear may sit down or move away to show respect. He may look away, yawning with feigning disinterest. He may exhibit "ignoring" behaviour - standing motionless or perhaps grazing, indicating he has no intentions and just wants to be left alone. When a black bear climbs a tree, it is showing its submission. A mother black bear will also tree her cubs for safety.

A bear may lunge suddenly toward a threat, and slap at the ground or surounding vegetation. The interpretaion of this behaviour depends on whether it's a black bear or grizzly. If it's a black bear - it is merely a bluff that means the bear feels nervous and apprehensive, but for some reason is reluctant to leave. A grizzly bear's message should be taken far more seriously. Most serious injuries and attacks on people are as a result of grizzlies feeling threated and acting in a manner that eliminates the threat.

A bear uses head and mouth movements as well as body orientation. A bear may circle an adversary with head high - then drop it and begin a series of short open-mouthed lunges-as it becomes more challenging.

A bear about to make contact may have its ears flattened against its head. This may signal the bear's intentions - but it also protects the ears from bites. Approaching bears often have their ears cocked forward; likely listening for signals.

The first line of defense for a bear may be to bluff charge its rival - a full-tilt run, stopping short at the last minute. Just before charging he may lay his ears back and lower his body closer to the ground, fixing his eyes on the object of his fear. Bluffs are generally used to intimidate an opponent. According to Dr. Lynn Rogers, in 34 years of studying black bears, he has observed bluffs to be nothing more than blustery acts. "I've never seen bluster turn into an attack. Bluff charges by black bears are blustery with exaggerated pounces and explosive blowing. When I see bluster, I back away and give the bear more space. I have even crawled into the den of a very blustery bear with cubs, and she didn't do a thing except be blustery."

In an extremely rare circumstance, a bear may actually attack (see section of what to do in the event of an attack). More often than not, bears just want to go about the business of everyday life.

Beware: Bears sometimes use message bites to communicate that you are TOO CLOSE!
If you lure a hungry bear closer than it feels comfortable with food, you might get slapped or even bitten. If a bear is very hungry, it will overcome its natural fear of humans to obtain food. As long as the bear's focus is on the food, everything is seemingly fine. Once the food is gone, the bear shifts its attention to the person, and he may begin to feel crowded and uncomfortable. Normally, the bear wouldn't dare to turn and run, as its defenses are weakest with its back turned to its adversary. Instead, the bear prefers that the person back away - so it swings its paw and slaps at the person. In the confusion, the bear makes a hasty retreat. Injuries from a slap can be nothing more than scratches and welts on the skin to more serious deep cuts sustained from a grizzlie's long claws. Bites are usually carefully restrained and usually only cause bruising. In any event, this is not a situation you should put yourself in. When people get close to bears, it creates the potential for a conflict situation, with the bear usually being the loser. Always keep a safe and comfortable distance from bears.

Bears may relay information by "gaping", opening their jaws wide in close proximity to another bear's face he's trying to impress. A favorite sport of bears is wrestling and jawing--sparring with their open mouths almost touching. Dogs do this all the time when they're playing.

A bear standing on its hind legs is not acting aggressively.
Contrary to popular belief, a standing bear is not a threatening bear. When bears stand on their hind legs, they are trying to get a better look at or smell whatever has peaked their curiosity.

Bears also communicate through play.
Although bears may use offensive postures to communicate dominance, they also have peaceful, non-threatening exchanges. One of these interactions is play. A wresting match between two bears contains many of the actions and postures seen in a potentially damaging fight, but the motivations and intensities are different.

The bond that exists between a mother and cub is constantly reinforced through play, touching and nursing. Siblings constantly touch and play together. Brown bears of similar social rank share elaborate greetings of rubbing and sniffing. Males and females use these same social signals during the mating season.

Bluff and Bluster.
Three types of bluffs are common, and all include sudden, explosive blowing with clacking teeth - the defensive display of a scared bear. Another display is blowing with a short lunge and slapping the ground or an object - an uneasy black bear's way of saying "Move Back". A more emphatic version is blowing and bluff-charging. Any of these blustery displays can occur when a black bear feels crowded but is reluctant to leave food or cubs. However, displays usually end with black bears turning and retreating, perhaps to repeat the performance. Research has shown that such displays by black blears are not preludes to attacks and that aggressive behaviour by people (yelling, waving arms, making short rushes, throwing things to scare the black bear) is almost certain to put a bluffing black bear in retreat.

Vocalizations are another form of conveying information.
Although, bears do not usually vocalize, unlike bears in movies with dubbed-in soundtracks. When the need arises, they communicate with grunts, by expelling air in different ways, or with a resonant "voice". Bears use the same vocalizations and body language toward people that they do toward each other, and knowing those sounds can help people react appropriately to bears they encounter.

Listen to Black Bear Sounds

Most communication occurs when bears (or bears and people) are in close proximity to one another. Black bears are more likely to vocalize than brown bears. Most bear vocalizations toward people are threats which bears use as they react to a stressful or fearful situation. They use vocalizations to diffuse the situation and almost never lead to physical contact.

Black Bears vocalize at three levels of intensity.

The lowest level or most common bears sounds are tongue clicks and grunts, which are used in amicable situations as when vocalizing to play partners, mates, cubs, and occasionally people.

The next higher level is expelling air (blowing) in various patterns associated with some body language as described above and usually with a narrowing of the muzzle, a protruding upper lip, etc. These are basically expressions of fear, nervousness, and apprehension. The bear usually retreats after it makes this sound.

Another sound that is often misinterpreted by people as threatening is chomping or clacking the teeth. Again, this is merely an expression of fear. It is not an effort to threaten. It is not a prelude to attack. Black bears have been observed to exhibit this behaviour when they are afraid. For example, a black bear that lost it's grip in a tree and almost fell, blew and chomped, with no one nearby to threaten. Black bears that blow and chomp are ready to retreat.

Huffing is another sound a scared bear makes. They make this sound after they've run away or climbed a tree. The make it in the same context that a person would say "Whew, you scared me." They make it when they stop retreating.

The highest intensity vocalizations are expressed with their human-like voice, which they use to express a range of emotions.

The black bear's resonant 'voice' is reserved for strong emotions and is seldom used except by cubs. Cubs readily scream in distress, whine when approaching their mother, or give a tremulous hum when nursing or comfortably warm. Adults use this voice when in pain (bawling), in fear (moaning), in combat (bellowing), or when seriously threatening (deep-throated pulsing sound). Unlike cats and dogs, black bears seldom, if ever, growl, although the fear-moans of treed or trapped bears are often mistaken for growls. Predacious attacks are silent, as is normal feeding.

A mother black bear can send her cubs scampering up a tree with a single huff, and then when the danger has passed, a few grunts summon the cubs down again.

Grizzlies command extreme caution.
Grizzlies of close social rank use low level vocalizations to communicate when near one another. Vocalizations may serve more than one purpose. An agitated female brown bear makes popping sounds by bring in air, clicking her teeth, and moving her cheeks. As she 'pops' she draws in scent, warns that she is agitated, and at the same time alerts her cubs. Startled grizzlies may clack their teeth, turn sideways to show their body size, or make sudden short rushes at their contender.

A grizzly bear that exhiblits defensive behaviour MUST be taken seriously. A defensive grizzly is sending a clear message to an intruding human - to immediately remove yourself as a threat. The grizzly may be defending cubs, a food source or themselves. Any of these circumnstances could lead to a potentially dangersous situation. See the section on attacks for more information.

Odours will also send messages to other members of the bear population.
Odours from urine, feces and body scent can reveal a lot about a bear. They can identify an individual, divulge its sex, age, or whether they are sexually receptive. Males use urine to advertise their presence during the breeding season - as an attractant to other females and as a warning to other males.

Bears also communicate with each other by marking trees with their scent.
This is usually done by standing on two legs and rubbing the back, shoulders, and especially the back of the head on a tree, telephone pole, or other object. They may bite and claw the trees, too. Scent reveals individual identity, reproductive status, and probably mood. Marking is most frequent by adult males before and during the mating season (from late May to early July), but some marking is done by all bears in all seasons of activity. Any bear that passes a marked tree is almost certain to stop and smell it and perhaps add its own scent. It is a misconception that bears show how big they are by reaching as high as they can when marking. Favourite marking places are often human-made signposts, many of which are shorter than the bears.

When in bear country, there are many signs that will alert you to a heavily used bear area - the presence of fresh tracks; a day bed; scat; or a clawed or chewed tree. Being aware is the best line of defense in bear country. Understanding bear communications can help you avoid a negative encounter. Stay alert of your surroundings, being watchful of bear signs.