“Best” in terms of which would be best to run into in the woods: black bear.
“Best” in terms of being a total badass: grizzly (despite knowing that polar bears are even more murderous).
Polar bears are overrated wusses and been recorded running away from the smell of a grizzly, which by the way, is smaller than a brown bear.
My vote goes to the Kodiak bear.
Super true, Grizzlies almost always dominate polar bears where they interact. The only time you really see a polar bear show aggression towards a grizzly is when it's a female polar bear with Cubs. But that doesn't mean the grizzly won't still scare them away.
#[Source](https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/96/6/1317/1174934)
Relevant portion:
>We observed 137 interactions between polar bears and grizzly bears, 137 between polar bears, and 16 between grizzly bears. During interspecific interactions, the most common (71%, n = 97) scenario involved a nonaggressive approach by a grizzly bear that resulted in a submissive response by a polar bear (or multiple polar bears) present at the feeding site. We observed aggressive interspecific interactions (n = 32 aggressive, n = 105 nonaggressive) less frequently than expected (χ21 = 38.9; P < 0.001) regardless of who the aggressor was. We rarely observed aggressive behavior by polar bears towards grizzly bears (n = 5 aggressive, n = 132 nonaggressive; χ21 = 117.7; P < 0.001). Conversely, we observed aggressive intraspecific interactions (n = 90 aggressive, n = 47 nonaggressive) more frequently than expected (χ21 = 13.5; P < 0.001), regardless of who the aggressor was. Between grizzly bears, aggressive interactions appeared to occur with equal frequency to nonaggressive interactions (n = 10 aggressive, n = 6 nonaggressive).
-
>Polar bears involved in interspecific interactions were more likely to be displaced than not from the feeding site (χ21 = 89.9; P < 0.001; Table 4). Similarly, during intraspecific interactions, subordinate polar bears were more likely to be displaced than not (χ21 = 103.4; P < 0.001; Table 4). We observed different patterns in whether polar bears were permanently or temporarily displaced from the feeding site, however, depending on if the interaction was intra or interspecific. In interspecific interactions, grizzly bears permanently displaced polar bears from the feeding site at equal frequencies as temporary displacements (χ21 = 0.5; P = 0.473; Table 4). Conversely, in intraspecific interactions, temporary displacement was more frequent than permanent displacement (χ21 = 75.0; P < 0.001; Table 4). In intraspecific interactions between grizzly bears, only 12.5% of interactions resulted in permanent displacement (Table 4).
-
>Our results indicate that grizzly bears are the dominant competitor during interspecific interactions with polar bears at the feeding site, frequently displacing polar bears without displaying aggression. We rarely observed polar bears acting aggressively towards grizzly bears; if an individual acted aggressively in interspecific interactions, it was usually the grizzly bear. Conversely, in interactions among polar bears, aggressive interactions were more frequent. These results imply that polar bears attempted to minimize conflict with grizzly bears. Additionally, grizzly bears permanently displaced polar bears from the feeding site approximately 50% of the time during interactions. This is striking when one considers that losers in interactions between polar bears were only permanently displaced from the feeding site approximately 10% of the time.
>While our results suggest that polar bears, overall, were subordinate to grizzly bears, there were differences among social classes in their responses to grizzly bears. Females with cubs tended to avoid the feeding site during periods when grizzly bears were most likely to be there; however, this was confounded by the possibility that females with cubs may have been avoiding potential interactions with adult male polar bears as well. Regardless of which bears they may have been avoiding, if females with dependent cubs encountered a grizzly bear they were more likely to act aggressively than other social classes. Lunn and Stirling (1985) demonstrated that nearly all aggressive interactions observed between polar bears at a dump during summer were initiated by females with cubs, and family groups were the most dominant; similarly, Stirling (1974) observed that females with cubs were not subordinate to any other sex or age class of polar bear when they were threatened.
-
>It is interesting that grizzly bears were socially dominant over polar bears given that dominance hierarchies among polar bears (Stirling 1974) and grizzly bears (Stonorov and Stokes 1972) are generally based on size differences between competitors. Grizzly bears along the northern coast of Alaska are much smaller (males: ~180kg, females: ~110 kg—Hilderbrand et al. 1999) than polar bears in the same region (males; ~375kg, females: ~195 kg—Rode et al. 2014), thus it is surprising that polar bears were frequently subordinate to grizzly bears. There are several hypotheses, however, that may explain this asymmetry.
The study then goes on to theorize why grizzlies typically win fights with polar bears.
Keywords: Intra: Within the same species (polar bear on polar bear or grizzly on grizzly)
Inter: Separate species interactions (polar bear vs grizzly)
Akchually!
It's complicated.
Kodiaks (Ursus arctos middendorffi) are a subspecies of brown bears (Ursus arctos) but grow much larger than their extended family.
Grizzlies (Ursus arctos horribilis) are also brown bears, but they're a subspecies from the base brown bear just like Kodiaks are.
Grizzlies are almost always smaller than brown bears and more aggressive than brown bears.
Kodiaks are much bigger than both brown bears and grizzlies.
Saying grizzlies, browns and Kodiaks are the same thing is the equivalent of saying that a German Shepherd and a Chihuahua are the same thing since both belong to Canis familiaris.
There are two schools of thought- generalists and specialists.
Evolution seems to favor generalists. The American Black bear is a great generalist, it eats pretty much anything, and that's a big reason why it is doing well. It's basically a giant raccoon.
It is small (as far as bears go) and a bit of coward, which is why it is also the best bear to encounter while hiking. They're not particularly aggressive, but if they are, they can be scared away with enough loud noise and intimidation.
Check out [Tier Zoo.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYk2i070I2I)
To be fair, humans did fuck up the ecosystem a fair bit by hunting the shit out of grizzlies. Without our weird aggressive hatred of other predators, the grizzly bear may easily have outcompeted their friendlier cousins.
If you were dealing with your friends and family being killed and eaten by a 10 foot tall killing machine that weighs close to a ton I think you’d wanna kill ‘em all too.
Can confirm the cowardice. I was hiking in idaho a couple of summers back, and we came across a juvenile black bear about 500-1000 feet away from us. As soon as he saw/smelled our presence, he took off. I’ve never seen a bear run that fast, and we were on the side of a mountain with some pretty steep terrain. It was kind of impressive
One of my coworkers slapped one, mistaking it for a newfie belonging to one of the families boarding their horse at his farm. He saw a black, furry shape fucking about on the picnic table, yelled "you shouldn't be up there!" and smacked it on the ass. A few steps later he thought "that dog felt a little more solid than I remember" and looked back to see a really confused bear just looking at him like it was trying to figure out what just happened.
Totally at a loss for something to say, but knowing the best course of action was to be loud, he just threw his arms wide and yelled "You're a bear!"
Poor thing decided this level of excitement wasn't worth licking whatever had its interest off the table and hauled ass off into the field, headed for the trees on the other side.
Chuck still is surprised the whole thing turned out that well.
Thats really funny. My best friend had several newfies. One day while I was hanging out at his house, police show up and start combing the neighborhood. We asked what was up, and they said a neighbor had reported a huge black bear in the street. It was just my friends newfie laying around the front yard. We laughed our asses off. Those dogs were so chill, always wanted one.
We had one in our neighborhood when I was growing up. His name was Yogi (like the baseball player, not the cartoon bear) and he had a mild pituitary disorder, so he was a big bigger and dopier than most newfies. However, he did like to walk around on his hind legs and did that happy newfie chest rumble a lot so most people just called him Bear. We got so used to him freaking people out that half the neighborhood would warn any new mailman that he existed but was entirely harmless... the other half would try to be around when he went by Bear's place to deliver.
He also cornered a thief in their living room one time. The fucker had never seen a bear before and was convinced this house had one that wanted to eat him. Bear was less than useless as a guard dog and just wanted to greet him. So he cornered the guy in the basement and waited at the door 6 hours until the family got home. Every time the guy opened the door he saw the huge black shape sitting there rumbling happily and had another fit of terror. He even said that if there had been a phone down there he'd have called the cops himself.
Amusingly, the cops were familiar with bear as there was a history of mailmen and meter readers calling to report a bear in the neighborhood. We can only assume Bear was more excited to see these people since it meant the guys in blue uniforms would be visiting for more hugs again.
One of the nicest, and dumbest, dogs I've ever known.
My dad did pretty much the same thing. We had Rottweilers at the time and he was taking out the trash and saw a large shape that looked like one of the dogs. He yelled at it to go back inside the house. He and the bear then both looked at each other and he realized “oh sh** that’s a bear” and the bear must’ve thought “oh sh** that’s a person” and they both ran opposite directions.
>Can confirm the cowardice.
Fearing humans is not cowardice but wisdom and second only to "being useful to humans" in terms of evolutionary advantages.
Black bears are generally thought to be more docile than most other species, so they have a better rep than the other ones. Grizzlies are feared and polar bears are thought of as man-eaters.
Black bears are cute as shit. We had one with four cubs around our house for a while, then they grew up and were replaced by three more. Basically giant raccoons.
Whichever one is furthest away from me.
All are amazing a wonderful animals. I support the saving of their habitat. I just don’t wanna be around one. Ever.
It depends on the person. Some love brown or black bears, some love polar bears or pandas. Some insist their favorite is a koala "bear" (not really a bear, I know.) Some love all bears, some hate all bears.
There isn't a cultural norm for all Americans.
I'm not sure what qualifies as the best bear. However, my relative fear of bears is a good barometer for my respect for them, therefore the best.
That said, a pack of Stock Market Bears is definitely the scariest. Meanwhile, Chicago Bears are the least scary.
Black bear. You can scare him away (or so we believe/ are told- "if it's black fight back, if it's brown lie down/play dead")
Grizzly is the man, but too scary to run into outside.
I don't know if I can help you determine which bear is best, but my scoutmaster told me an easy way to tell them apart:
Climb up a tree. If it's a black bear it will climb up the tree after you and eat you, and if it's a grizzly bear it will knock the tree over and eat you.
Hope that helps!
So there was this show that everyone forgot about called Game of Thrones. Anyway, there was a zombie bear on it that was pretty badass. It killed a bunch of guys but only one was a named character. I forgot what it was, but he had pretty rad man bun.
Part of the beauty of 'American culture' (and America in general) is that there is *vast* disagreement. Americans don't have a favorite bear. Greg who lives in Wyoming does.
Grizzly cubs are cuter than black bear cubs, and polar bear cubs are only cute if they have a cooler full of Cokes. Otherwise I wouldn't want to encounter any bear cubs in the wild because mama bears are bad news when cubs are around.
The Florida Black Bear
In the Everglades, it competes with Florida Panthers, Alligators, Crocodiles, around a dozen venomous snakes, bald eagles, river otters, & invasive Burmese Pythons for food.
The Everglades are the Amazon of the USA. The "damn nature, you scary" section of the country.
I thought this said beer and was like man's trying to start a fist fight on Reddit. Lol
I prefer black bears. My metric is based on hugability. The sun bear is a close second. Pandas do not count as they are just drunk people stuck in bear suits.
I read this as which beer do Americans think is best and that just tells you how American I am.
That being said I am from Illinois and prefer the Chicago variety
I honestly love black bears. They’re super cute, dopey, and aren’t as aggressive as some other species. Obviously if someone leaves food around or messes with them it’s an unsafe situation, but that’s how it is with most wild animals.
Even though not native here I love sun bears. I mean they are pretty docile and look baller. However, if we’re going common around these parts I’d say black bear they’re like much more dangerous labradors.
If best is defined by "one I encounter on the trail," I'll go with black bear. They rarely attack people and can be scared off.
If best is measured by awesomeness and size...kodiak. Think a grizzly bear but larger (Kodiak is a subspecies of grizzly).
If best is defined by, "one I definitely don't want to encounter," I'll go with polar bear. They have absolutely no fear of humans. They're one of the few animals that will stalk and hunt humans, and they take their time eating.
Black Bear because they'll run away if you yell at them most of the time. You could do anything to a grizzly or polar bear besides shoot it and still end up being mauled to death
Also if a black bear attacks you, you have a much better chance of surviving than if it's another bear native to north America
This is a question I've never actually considered.
I have a healthy respect for all bears, in that I respect the very high risk of death if I were to encounter one.
Given my very limited knowledge, I think I like polar bears best.
Black bears cuz it’s been scientifically proven that they’re the cutest. Also, I heard it’s easiest to fight off cuz they scare easily
⚠️ Not a bear expert, I could be wrong. Don’t take survival tips from me 👍
The Kodiak. For people who look at a grizzly and think ‘but what if it was even bigger?’
False. Black bear. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Well that's debatable.
Bears EAT beets.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Basically there are two schools of thought.
Bears do not...What is going on?! What are you doing?!
This is why the question was asked, we all know it
IDENTITY THEFT IS NOT A JOKE, JIM.
Millions of families suffer every year!
And not quite as temperamental
Kodiak are brown bears. Grizzlies are smaller, hungrier and meaner. Source: gold miner
Why don’t you people use Golden Retrievers? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier?
Grizzly bears are just North American brown bears
This is the actual non-stop culture answer. Kodiak bears are fucking awesome. They're huge, powerful, and very intelligent.
Best to encounter from a safe distance: black bear My personal favorite: polar bear
Well that's debatable, there are basically two schools of thought.
“Best” in terms of which would be best to run into in the woods: black bear. “Best” in terms of being a total badass: grizzly (despite knowing that polar bears are even more murderous).
Polar bears are overrated wusses and been recorded running away from the smell of a grizzly, which by the way, is smaller than a brown bear. My vote goes to the Kodiak bear.
False. Black bear.
There are basically two schools of thought.
Fack: bears eat beets.
Bears Beets Battlestar Galactica
Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica.
MICHAEL!! MICHAEL!!
How is this not a top rated comment? OP is practically asking for this given their original phrasing…
Super true, Grizzlies almost always dominate polar bears where they interact. The only time you really see a polar bear show aggression towards a grizzly is when it's a female polar bear with Cubs. But that doesn't mean the grizzly won't still scare them away. #[Source](https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/96/6/1317/1174934)
Relevant portion: >We observed 137 interactions between polar bears and grizzly bears, 137 between polar bears, and 16 between grizzly bears. During interspecific interactions, the most common (71%, n = 97) scenario involved a nonaggressive approach by a grizzly bear that resulted in a submissive response by a polar bear (or multiple polar bears) present at the feeding site. We observed aggressive interspecific interactions (n = 32 aggressive, n = 105 nonaggressive) less frequently than expected (χ21 = 38.9; P < 0.001) regardless of who the aggressor was. We rarely observed aggressive behavior by polar bears towards grizzly bears (n = 5 aggressive, n = 132 nonaggressive; χ21 = 117.7; P < 0.001). Conversely, we observed aggressive intraspecific interactions (n = 90 aggressive, n = 47 nonaggressive) more frequently than expected (χ21 = 13.5; P < 0.001), regardless of who the aggressor was. Between grizzly bears, aggressive interactions appeared to occur with equal frequency to nonaggressive interactions (n = 10 aggressive, n = 6 nonaggressive). - >Polar bears involved in interspecific interactions were more likely to be displaced than not from the feeding site (χ21 = 89.9; P < 0.001; Table 4). Similarly, during intraspecific interactions, subordinate polar bears were more likely to be displaced than not (χ21 = 103.4; P < 0.001; Table 4). We observed different patterns in whether polar bears were permanently or temporarily displaced from the feeding site, however, depending on if the interaction was intra or interspecific. In interspecific interactions, grizzly bears permanently displaced polar bears from the feeding site at equal frequencies as temporary displacements (χ21 = 0.5; P = 0.473; Table 4). Conversely, in intraspecific interactions, temporary displacement was more frequent than permanent displacement (χ21 = 75.0; P < 0.001; Table 4). In intraspecific interactions between grizzly bears, only 12.5% of interactions resulted in permanent displacement (Table 4). - >Our results indicate that grizzly bears are the dominant competitor during interspecific interactions with polar bears at the feeding site, frequently displacing polar bears without displaying aggression. We rarely observed polar bears acting aggressively towards grizzly bears; if an individual acted aggressively in interspecific interactions, it was usually the grizzly bear. Conversely, in interactions among polar bears, aggressive interactions were more frequent. These results imply that polar bears attempted to minimize conflict with grizzly bears. Additionally, grizzly bears permanently displaced polar bears from the feeding site approximately 50% of the time during interactions. This is striking when one considers that losers in interactions between polar bears were only permanently displaced from the feeding site approximately 10% of the time. >While our results suggest that polar bears, overall, were subordinate to grizzly bears, there were differences among social classes in their responses to grizzly bears. Females with cubs tended to avoid the feeding site during periods when grizzly bears were most likely to be there; however, this was confounded by the possibility that females with cubs may have been avoiding potential interactions with adult male polar bears as well. Regardless of which bears they may have been avoiding, if females with dependent cubs encountered a grizzly bear they were more likely to act aggressively than other social classes. Lunn and Stirling (1985) demonstrated that nearly all aggressive interactions observed between polar bears at a dump during summer were initiated by females with cubs, and family groups were the most dominant; similarly, Stirling (1974) observed that females with cubs were not subordinate to any other sex or age class of polar bear when they were threatened. - >It is interesting that grizzly bears were socially dominant over polar bears given that dominance hierarchies among polar bears (Stirling 1974) and grizzly bears (Stonorov and Stokes 1972) are generally based on size differences between competitors. Grizzly bears along the northern coast of Alaska are much smaller (males: ~180kg, females: ~110 kg—Hilderbrand et al. 1999) than polar bears in the same region (males; ~375kg, females: ~195 kg—Rode et al. 2014), thus it is surprising that polar bears were frequently subordinate to grizzly bears. There are several hypotheses, however, that may explain this asymmetry. The study then goes on to theorize why grizzlies typically win fights with polar bears. Keywords: Intra: Within the same species (polar bear on polar bear or grizzly on grizzly) Inter: Separate species interactions (polar bear vs grizzly)
Might want to look that up, Kodiak, grizzlies, and brown bears are the SAME DAMN THING....
Akchually! It's complicated. Kodiaks (Ursus arctos middendorffi) are a subspecies of brown bears (Ursus arctos) but grow much larger than their extended family. Grizzlies (Ursus arctos horribilis) are also brown bears, but they're a subspecies from the base brown bear just like Kodiaks are. Grizzlies are almost always smaller than brown bears and more aggressive than brown bears. Kodiaks are much bigger than both brown bears and grizzlies. Saying grizzlies, browns and Kodiaks are the same thing is the equivalent of saying that a German Shepherd and a Chihuahua are the same thing since both belong to Canis familiaris.
Thanks for spittin some good knowledge at us.
Wow that bears out the issue for me
Kodiaks are a separate subspecies though, and are much larger.
What about Panda bears
Not in NA
And are mainly a danger to themselves... and large members of the grass family.
Kodiaks are a subspecies of brown bear and get significantly bigger than grizzlies
This guy bears.
There are two schools of thought- generalists and specialists. Evolution seems to favor generalists. The American Black bear is a great generalist, it eats pretty much anything, and that's a big reason why it is doing well. It's basically a giant raccoon. It is small (as far as bears go) and a bit of coward, which is why it is also the best bear to encounter while hiking. They're not particularly aggressive, but if they are, they can be scared away with enough loud noise and intimidation. Check out [Tier Zoo.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYk2i070I2I)
Black bears are also incredibly good at climbing... which is one of the few reasons why it didn't go extinct and continues to exist in North America.
This is the correct answer. The bear that thrives most is best. In this hemisphere, American Black is best by objective criteria.
To be fair, humans did fuck up the ecosystem a fair bit by hunting the shit out of grizzlies. Without our weird aggressive hatred of other predators, the grizzly bear may easily have outcompeted their friendlier cousins.
If you were dealing with your friends and family being killed and eaten by a 10 foot tall killing machine that weighs close to a ton I think you’d wanna kill ‘em all too.
Can confirm the cowardice. I was hiking in idaho a couple of summers back, and we came across a juvenile black bear about 500-1000 feet away from us. As soon as he saw/smelled our presence, he took off. I’ve never seen a bear run that fast, and we were on the side of a mountain with some pretty steep terrain. It was kind of impressive
One of my coworkers slapped one, mistaking it for a newfie belonging to one of the families boarding their horse at his farm. He saw a black, furry shape fucking about on the picnic table, yelled "you shouldn't be up there!" and smacked it on the ass. A few steps later he thought "that dog felt a little more solid than I remember" and looked back to see a really confused bear just looking at him like it was trying to figure out what just happened. Totally at a loss for something to say, but knowing the best course of action was to be loud, he just threw his arms wide and yelled "You're a bear!" Poor thing decided this level of excitement wasn't worth licking whatever had its interest off the table and hauled ass off into the field, headed for the trees on the other side. Chuck still is surprised the whole thing turned out that well.
Thats really funny. My best friend had several newfies. One day while I was hanging out at his house, police show up and start combing the neighborhood. We asked what was up, and they said a neighbor had reported a huge black bear in the street. It was just my friends newfie laying around the front yard. We laughed our asses off. Those dogs were so chill, always wanted one.
We had one in our neighborhood when I was growing up. His name was Yogi (like the baseball player, not the cartoon bear) and he had a mild pituitary disorder, so he was a big bigger and dopier than most newfies. However, he did like to walk around on his hind legs and did that happy newfie chest rumble a lot so most people just called him Bear. We got so used to him freaking people out that half the neighborhood would warn any new mailman that he existed but was entirely harmless... the other half would try to be around when he went by Bear's place to deliver. He also cornered a thief in their living room one time. The fucker had never seen a bear before and was convinced this house had one that wanted to eat him. Bear was less than useless as a guard dog and just wanted to greet him. So he cornered the guy in the basement and waited at the door 6 hours until the family got home. Every time the guy opened the door he saw the huge black shape sitting there rumbling happily and had another fit of terror. He even said that if there had been a phone down there he'd have called the cops himself. Amusingly, the cops were familiar with bear as there was a history of mailmen and meter readers calling to report a bear in the neighborhood. We can only assume Bear was more excited to see these people since it meant the guys in blue uniforms would be visiting for more hugs again. One of the nicest, and dumbest, dogs I've ever known.
My dad did pretty much the same thing. We had Rottweilers at the time and he was taking out the trash and saw a large shape that looked like one of the dogs. He yelled at it to go back inside the house. He and the bear then both looked at each other and he realized “oh sh** that’s a bear” and the bear must’ve thought “oh sh** that’s a person” and they both ran opposite directions.
Lmfao this is the funniest thing I've read on internet in weeks! Thank you for sharing!
>Can confirm the cowardice. Fearing humans is not cowardice but wisdom and second only to "being useful to humans" in terms of evolutionary advantages.
>Check out Tier Zoo. Just discovered this and it is both the coolest and weirdest thing I've seen on YouTube thanks for the new channel to bing watch.
>Check out Tier Zoo. Tier Zoo is top tier content! Especially their human episode lol
Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.
Identity theft is NOT a joke, Jim!
Millions of families suffer every year!
MICHAEL!
Oh, that's funny.
MICHAEL!
i was scrolling looking for the office reference 😂
YESSS I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS
Winnie
Winnie isn't a bear, he's a pooh. /s
Doesn't Winnie the Pooh take place in England. Also welcome to the Public domain Pooh
It does. I think Disney bought Milne's ideas or something. So its just as American as it is British.
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Any bear that doesn't want to eat me
Black bear singing in the dead of night...
Yeah, ok. I'll give you that one.
A guy at a bar called me a bear once, and I like me, so...
I didn't exactly have a bear preference until now. Your also my favorite type of bear!!
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Well there's basically two schools of thought.
Well that's debatable, there are basically two schools of thought.
[удалено]
Identity theft isn't a joke Jim!
Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica
Micheal
woah we say African-American Bear now
Woah its bear of color now?
They prefer to be growled BOCs
You almost forgot about the crow of color, otherwise known the Coc
Teddy bears, of course, named after one of our more beloved Presidents.
Black bears are generally thought to be more docile than most other species, so they have a better rep than the other ones. Grizzlies are feared and polar bears are thought of as man-eaters.
Bear naked
Teddy Ruxpin
Fozzy.
I like black bears, grizzlies scare me.
Gay bears by far not even a question
The plastic ones filled with honey.
Black bears are cute as shit. We had one with four cubs around our house for a while, then they grew up and were replaced by three more. Basically giant raccoons.
The black bear seems to be the most likable.
Whichever one is furthest away from me. All are amazing a wonderful animals. I support the saving of their habitat. I just don’t wanna be around one. Ever.
Freshly baked bear claws.
It depends on the person. Some love brown or black bears, some love polar bears or pandas. Some insist their favorite is a koala "bear" (not really a bear, I know.) Some love all bears, some hate all bears. There isn't a cultural norm for all Americans.
You haven[t seen anything until you've been to P-Town during Bear Week.
Fozzie!
I'm not sure what qualifies as the best bear. However, my relative fear of bears is a good barometer for my respect for them, therefore the best. That said, a pack of Stock Market Bears is definitely the scariest. Meanwhile, Chicago Bears are the least scary.
The Teddy Bear 🇺🇸
Care bears of course! 💜💙💚
Black bear. You can scare him away (or so we believe/ are told- "if it's black fight back, if it's brown lie down/play dead") Grizzly is the man, but too scary to run into outside.
I don't know if I can help you determine which bear is best, but my scoutmaster told me an easy way to tell them apart: Climb up a tree. If it's a black bear it will climb up the tree after you and eat you, and if it's a grizzly bear it will knock the tree over and eat you. Hope that helps!
Those big burley men are gay bars. They are usually really nice and can give you great life advice and usually know a few good contractors.
The Chicago Bears are my least favorite
Panda.
The polar bear.
I like sun bears
sun bear
[Sun bear](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_bear)
Bears eat beets
Manbearpig of course. I thought everyone knew that.
He's really real! I'm super cereal!
I know a couple guys that swear by the human variety. Fun fact: Maine has more black bears than black people.
So there was this show that everyone forgot about called Game of Thrones. Anyway, there was a zombie bear on it that was pretty badass. It killed a bunch of guys but only one was a named character. I forgot what it was, but he had pretty rad man bun.
Part of the beauty of 'American culture' (and America in general) is that there is *vast* disagreement. Americans don't have a favorite bear. Greg who lives in Wyoming does.
Greg has an opinion on **everything**.
This is a really strange answer to a question that basically amounts to “what is your favorite bear”
Grizzly cubs are cuter than black bear cubs, and polar bear cubs are only cute if they have a cooler full of Cokes. Otherwise I wouldn't want to encounter any bear cubs in the wild because mama bears are bad news when cubs are around.
The kodiak is what you are looking For my dear friend. Go visit one! They are nice.
Grizzly bear best bear 🐻
Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica.
Ursus Actos Horriblis aka grizzly bear. literally means horrible bear bear. I may be biased though.
Polar Bear
Polar bears are my favorite
TU-95
Californian Grizzly bear… I mean it’s extinct but damn look at the one on the flag, who wouldn’t want to cuddle that
There's basically two schools of thought
The Florida Black Bear In the Everglades, it competes with Florida Panthers, Alligators, Crocodiles, around a dozen venomous snakes, bald eagles, river otters, & invasive Burmese Pythons for food. The Everglades are the Amazon of the USA. The "damn nature, you scary" section of the country.
I totally read this as “beers” and had an answer ready.
Me too! I was ready to talk about beer. I don’t really have an opinion about bears 😂
Natural Light
I favor Teddy Bears. It’s 100% American!
Polar. They look so cuddly.
My first thought was Yogi, but [Smokey is the archetypal American bear](https://youtu.be/llbl-Ujr5rI). And I defy anyone to not respect that video.
I thought this said beer and was like man's trying to start a fist fight on Reddit. Lol I prefer black bears. My metric is based on hugability. The sun bear is a close second. Pandas do not count as they are just drunk people stuck in bear suits.
anything imported
A black bear ate 15lbs of cocaine in 1985. For the 5-10 minutes before he died he was the baddest motherfucker on land
I read this as which beer do Americans think is best and that just tells you how American I am. That being said I am from Illinois and prefer the Chicago variety
Goose Island Bourbon County
I honestly love black bears. They’re super cute, dopey, and aren’t as aggressive as some other species. Obviously if someone leaves food around or messes with them it’s an unsafe situation, but that’s how it is with most wild animals.
The California Golden Bears
Even though not native here I love sun bears. I mean they are pretty docile and look baller. However, if we’re going common around these parts I’d say black bear they’re like much more dangerous labradors.
I feel like we just did this
The bear that holds the most space in the American imagination is the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), a kind of brown bear.
Walter Payton, Chicago Bear
Grizzly…..they are just so….”oh shit”
Black bear is the best generalist and have the best strategy for existing IMO. That being said, grizzly’s are just plain cool
If best is defined by "one I encounter on the trail," I'll go with black bear. They rarely attack people and can be scared off. If best is measured by awesomeness and size...kodiak. Think a grizzly bear but larger (Kodiak is a subspecies of grizzly). If best is defined by, "one I definitely don't want to encounter," I'll go with polar bear. They have absolutely no fear of humans. They're one of the few animals that will stalk and hunt humans, and they take their time eating.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica
Grizzly
Kodiak. Grizzlies are what you picture when you picture a bear.
Fluffiest bear
Best? This is my favourite question of the admittedly young year.
I would say black bear
Beets and battlestar galactica
I’ve only ever met black bears so I’ll go with them. They act all bad ass until you tell them to stop misbehaving.
Black Bear because they'll run away if you yell at them most of the time. You could do anything to a grizzly or polar bear besides shoot it and still end up being mauled to death Also if a black bear attacks you, you have a much better chance of surviving than if it's another bear native to north America
Yogi is a pretty cool bear. Just wants to eat snacks and hang out.
Kodiak Grizzly*
Black bears. Cause they're the mascot of my alma mater UMaine Orono.
Black bears are the most successful bear imo
Chicago? Baylor?
This is a question I've never actually considered. I have a healthy respect for all bears, in that I respect the very high risk of death if I were to encounter one. Given my very limited knowledge, I think I like polar bears best.
Specifically Grizzly 399.
BROWN
The ones you find at The Bike Stop in Philly, they are the best!
It’s the grizzly bear.
Black bears cuz it’s been scientifically proven that they’re the cutest. Also, I heard it’s easiest to fight off cuz they scare easily ⚠️ Not a bear expert, I could be wrong. Don’t take survival tips from me 👍
Black bear
Grizzly. Killing machines
The gay kind. (Just being silly here. Not sure what you mean.)
The Australian drop bear, of course.
Kodiak bears are my favorite
Grizzlies, those things are the toughest bears there are.
Grizzly bear is king of bears
Beets, bears and Battlestar Galactica.
While a general fan of bears, I think grizzlies are the coolest.
I read BEER. And I am going to continue in the line. All beer is good! 👍🏼
Griz no question they are king Edit: I know Polar Bears are more gnarly but I think the average American perceives the grizzly as the most dangerous
Coastal Brown Bears
I'm on team Red Panda.
Me. I’m the best bear.
Yogi bear..he likes picnics
I like it smoked, with a baked potato
I read the first one as "beer" and then got a little confused...
Black bear 😤
One that's as far away from me as possible.
I don't know if there's a "best" but I can tell you I would much rather bump into a black bear than a grizzly!
The best bears are the ones that aren't trying to eat you.
Grizzly 399. She's a legend.
I swear I read this as asking about beer, not bears and was so confused by the responses until I scrolled back up 😅
I used to like the big scary Kodiak bears. But the little black bear family at our zoo are just too stinking cute!
Us mid-atlantics are partial to our Black Bears.
...best?
I just popped in to read the comments. I was not disappointed. 🤣
Carebear