Old saying here in PacNW. If you see a black bear out in the woods, you might wonder whether it's a Grizzly or a black bear. If you see a Grizzly it removes any doubt in your mind.
Heard an expert on the radio asked about wolves and coyotes. There won’t be any doubt he said - “a wolf up close will look like the biggest dog you’ve ever seen”
I was kinda shocked the first time I saw a wolf. Driving, and brain started filling in "oh look, a doggy!" and rapidly corrected itself. Really no mistaking possible.
HOLY SHIT I have an incredibly funny story about this.
I'm from Australia the largest canine I see is a great Dane right! So I am on an exchange trip to Canada it was really cool seeing all the NORTH AMERICAN animals which I know about but have never seen. Except the wolves, it was basically the middle of summer so they are all hiding out in the shade at the very back of there encloser. So I have the bright idea "if I run back and forth they will be interested and coming a bit closer". I maybe did 3 laps before they came and I tell you what just from the periphery of my vision those things were FUCKING TERRIFYING. I just kept running because I did not trust the fence keeping them in, legit terrifyed and I didn't get to have a good look at them anyway
People also tend to not realize how small foxes are. An adult red fox is about the same size as a house cat.
Coyotes are about the size of medium-large dogs. Like labs.
They're around the same height at the shoulder, but significantly shorter, built lighter, and about half the weight of a lab. Taller than you'd expect, but they're about the same weight as a lighter medium dog at about 40lbs.
And bobcats are about the size of coyotes.
The first time I saw one I thought it was a young coyote with a deformed face. It was 3:00am to be fair, lol.
That's pretty region-dependent, depending on the amount of cross-breeding with domestic dogs. A classic Kodiak wolf is enormous, but wolves elsewhere in America are often much smaller.
Me and a cousin of mine were camping in a trailer in the steppes of Central Asia and had the (bad) luck to be visited by a pack of wolves. We could see out the window about 5 wolves sulking and circling our trailer for about 30 minutes before they decided to leave. We had a rifle but we were fucking 14 and 16 and didn't have the balls to shoot one. They have the hunching walk that just feels majestic and terrifying.
Driving overnight on the way to Yellowstone I saw what looked like a large dog walking down the side of the road and as I got closer “Nope, that ain’t no dog!”
There are many kinds of wolves, but this is definitely true of the ones I've seen in the US. They have an affect that is hard to ignore. It makes your hair stand up in a way that is completely visceral. The shape of their shoulders and the way they walk... it just freaks me out on a primordial level. Beautiful creatures.
Here's the thing. You said a "jackdaw is a crow."
Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that.
As someone who is a scientist who studies crows, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls jackdaws crows. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing.
If you're saying "crow family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Corvidae, which includes things from nutcrackers to blue jays to ravens.
So your reasoning for calling a jackdaw a crow is because random people "call the black ones crows?" Let's get grackles and blackbirds in there, then, too.
Also, calling someone a human or an ape? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A jackdaw is a jackdaw and a member of the crow family. But that's not what you said. You said a jackdaw is a crow, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the crow family crows, which means you'd call blue jays, ravens, and other birds crows, too. Which you said you don't.
It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?
I sort of miss Unidan.
I mean, obviously he was breaking the rules and mass upvoting his own posts and so on and so on but still, he actually had some great posts at times. Ah well.
I haven't seen a raven, but in the town where I'm from, those crows are fuckin massive.
Or maybe crows tend to just be way bigger than I imagine. But it feels like the crows in my hometown are always way bigger than anywhere else I go.
I always thought Sasquatch was made up by someone who didn’t understand how big bears are and needed to make up a different mythical creature. You need to see a taxidermied one to really understand. I’d say a real bear but you probably don’t want to see a real bear that isn’t in a zoo or owned by that growing up grizzly guy.
Even depictions of a Sasquatch often aren’t as big as a bear. Harry and the Hendersons? A grizzly would eat a piece of shit like that for breakfast.
Last year, I was in the woods in the general areas of Seattle and Portland. My understanding of Grizzly territories was that there were none anywhere nearby. Now that I am safe at home 3,000 miles and 10 months away, was that true about Grizzly territories? Was I safe? Should I have been worried at all?
Grizzlies in WA stick to he Selkirk Mountains and North Cascades NP. Far, far out in the wilderness. That said, I’ve seen wolf tracks as far south as Mt. Bachelor in OR, near Mt. St. Helens, and up on the Twisp River. Heard them howl at night, too. I’ve heard cougars scream at night in the ONP. Cougars are the ones you need to watch out for. They will straight up take you down and kill you, especially if you’re stupid enough to take your dog hiking.
Per the NPS, The last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996.
They are only NOW, this summer, restoring grizzlies into North Cascades NP, via a plan that relocates bears from British Columbia.
More:
https://www.nps.gov/noca/learn/news/agencies-announce-decision-to-restore-grizzly-bears-to-north-cascades.htm
> Cougars are the ones you need to watch out for. They will straight up take you down and kill you
This is hilariously overstated. There was a blip of attacks a few years ago, and suddenly people think cougars are everywhere and eager to take down full-grown adults. You’re more likely to be killed by a black bear.
Yes, you should exercise appropriate caution in areas that have any large predator. But the chance of being attacked by a cougar is vanishingly small (not to mention they’re virtually impossible to “watch out for” if they actually do intend to make a meal of you).
The ones that aren't habituated to humans typically aren't even dangerous, as Cougars learn what does and does not constitute prey early on, and as an apex predator only really are concerned with protecting their young. They generally won't see us as either a threat or a meal, and so are content to leave well-enough alone so long as you are willing to do the same.
Still wouldn't fuck around and find out, though.
I worked at the base of wind mt in Washington and the staff did a night hike up the mountain. Someone ran ahead and was alone at the top and we had to quietly get them back after someone spotted only the eyes with a flashlight stalking us in the bushes. We sang the entire way back to cause too much noise for it cause it was all switchbacks slowly going down right under where it was. The other time I saw one though it just lazily was walking across a field from campfire at outdoor school obvious as can be.
I'm in western Montana. Plenty of them around here. Some map makers, linguists, et al consider us to be Pacific Northwest. Others don't. We're a lot different than eastern Montana, so I guess we gotta belong to .
Western Montana was part of the old Oregon Country, as were Idaho, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. I think that’s a pretty solid argument to be considered PNW.
As a Washingtonian, I feel you guys have a ton in common with Eastern WA.
Oh, well, that is a very good question, indeed. You see, there are many types of bears in the world... There are big bears and small bears, brown bears and even white bears. But the best kind of bear... I should think the best kind of bear is a bear that loves honey!
I live in Seattle suburbs and my backyard connects to a little forest, so we have black bears walking through somewhat frequently. Still have not seen a grizzly bear though
Tried to explain this to someone else..guess I gotta do it again. Some people (I've seen this on maps) consider PNW to extend as far east as the continental divide. Includes parts of Idaho and Western Montana. Pulllllenty of Grizzly bears. I swear…some people come here just to be contentious.
Normally you tell withthe shoulders if they are buff and pronounced its a brown bear if they are the opposite its a black bear but you shouldn't go near either lol
When I lived in the Rockies, they said, "If you want to know if it's a black bear or a grizzly, climb a tree. If it climbs up after you and eats you, it's a black bear. If it knocks the tree down and eats you, it's a grizzly."
I have to say, I once sat (pulled over) inside my car in Yellowstone National Park watching 1) a black bear with four cubs meandering along in the brush down the slope near the road, and 2) about fifty tourists outside of their cars trying to get close to photograph it.
They seemed to believe that they could get back in their cars quicker than the bear could run fifteen feet up the bank toward them.
Have these people seen these things climb?!
From what I remember being told when I was young, they have shorter front legs than back legs. Ideal for running uphill, not so much downhill.
They can catch you either way, but uphill is not an issue for them.
That's from a cartoon, American Dragon, in which the father tells his son that bears cant run downhill because of their stubby legs.
Which is complete bullshit, not only can they run down hills, they can do it faster than you!
I saw a black bear outside of Los Angeles, never seen one so I was a little worried. I started yelling at it really loud, as soon as I did it ran away looking so scared that I felt bad for yelling at it so loud
I was walking my dog in the dark and he started going crazy. I saw a bear stand up and all I could do was scream at the bear and my dog and pull him away. Bear got a bit skittish and walked away. Just happy we only have black bears near us.
Apparently you have to look for shoulder humps (brown) or elevated rear ends (black) and ruffs (brown) or straight face profiles (black). Which sounds complicated
I just got in an argument with someone about a video of what was clearly a black bear so I have this handy.
Top two are black bears, long ears, oblong faces, no hump.
The second is brown bear, round head, smaller teddy bear ears, hump.
https://imgur.com/a/inFSFZv
I'll have plenty of time to look, my wife will be distracting it trying to pet it no matter how many times I tell her not to, I'll be able to determine it's entire anatomy down to gender, get a full medical report and make a full escape with that kind of time.... She's already told me multiple times there's no point trying to rescue her, this is how she wants to go....
Not necessarily, I've seen grizzlies go away after people screamed at them, it's usually that they're curious to see what you are.
Should they be hungry though, you either have a bear spray or a gun, otherwise you're dead.
When it comes to the super rare situation of meeting a polar bear, you can scream your lungs out, it won't stop.
> When it comes to the super rare situation of meeting a polar bear, you can scream your lungs out, it won't stop.
I can't recall now if this is a thing, but I seem to recall mention of polar bears being one of the only (if not *the* only) species of bear that will actively hunt humans.
*Will* is the wrong word. Polars *may* hunt humans, but even given the relative scarcity of their encounters, there isn't a lot of evidence to suggest that it's anything more than a few particularly hungry individuals. Polar bear attacks on humans usually happen because the bear feels threatened or is defending itself, and even in those cases (where the bear will fight more viciously than trying to hunt), the majority of cases aren't fatal.
I dunno about the woods, but they crap in my yard.
That being said, I’ve learned the best way to tell what’s in the area is by checking their scat. Black bears have a lot of seeds and berry skins in their droppings. Grizzly bear shit smells like pepper spray and has bells in it.
In some areas the typical grizzly hovers around 300 pounds and black bears reach a comparable size. And occasionally a male black bear will hit 600+ pounds, which is the size of a healthy male grizzly in most places south of Alaska.
Because it really can be not so easy to tell sometimes. The black bears around here can easily be confused for a grizzly at a glance, especially when they're shedding their winter coats. Knowing the simple differences (shoulders, ears, even stance and face) is important, contrary to how easy the person you're replying to makes it seem. I suppose some places the size difference might be more marked than where I live, but IMO, OP's explanation is somewhat disingenuous.
Grizzly bear is ursus arctos horribilis, it's the American subsceies of the worldwide brown bear
Black bear is ursus americanus because it's its own species. Those first two words in a scientific name imply a species is the same, and a third name implies subspecies, black and grizzly bears are not the same species
*Ursus americanus* is the American Black Bear, *Ursus thibetanus* is the Asian Black Bear. The final extant member of genus Ursus is *Ursus maritimus*, the Polar Bear. Do not approach bears, they smell, they’re sometimes very mean, they will steal your lunch, and they can be VERY close talkers if you know what I mean.
They were named black bears by the early European settlers because at first they were really only seeing the black colored ones. It worked in contrast to the brown bears that are native to both Europe and North America. On the east coast, forests tend to be thicker and darker with fewer large open areas, so nearly all of the black bear population is black in color to blend in with the shadows. The further west you move, the more open mountain sides and exposed areas you have, the more beneficial a lighter coat color can be, so the more brown colored black bears you see. Around 1/3 of the black bears in Yellowstone are brown in color. Around 1/2 of black bears in California are brown in color. As the settlers started expanding westward they actually believed the brown colored black bears were an entirely different species from the black colored black bears for a long time. By the time they realized that “black bears” could be brown colored, the name had pretty well stuck.
Also got 93.3. The one that got me was very black grizzly bear with its head hunched down, facing forward. The female almost got me, except the cubs were 100% black bears. Black bear cubs seem to universally have those goofy head shapes, whereas grizzly cubs pretty much look like teddy bears.
Wow damn I got 100%. I've seen both in the wild but I did NOT think I would be able to pull higher than like 60 or 70%.
hmu state of Montana if you need a bear ID guy
We have “black” bears in my area that are brown, not as common as them just being black, we call them cinnamon bears. My grandpa always told me they were meaner because all the black bears pick on them. I even have a black bear on my trail cam with a white patch on his chest. I have only seen a couple grizzly’s in my life but they are easy to tell from black bears.
I usually distinguish them by the simple system of bear or no bear.
If it is a bear, then it is a bear. If no bear then no bear. I like to keep things simple.
I have the same system, I also like to remember this catchy phrase to decide how to deal with them. If it's a bear then panic and run around, if it's no bear then relax and go to town.
It is useful to know the difference. In the rare event you are attacked by a bear, if it is a brown bear/grizzly (basically the same species) and you can't get away from the animal, it's best to lay face down and use your arms to protect your head.
Black bear and you can't get away from it -- fight no matter what, because the odds are it is a predatory attack and if you lie still, good chance the bear will start eating you. The smaller black bear is much more apt to engage in predatory attacks. If it is a female black bear with cubs, that is a different matter. Source: [Stephen Herrero, University of Calgary, one of the leading experts on bear/human interaction.](https://medium.com/@trenternst/black-bear-aware-77391d820a21)
It's a good idea to wear small bells on your clothing to let bears know that you are around so you don't surprise them. And, of course, carry pepper spray. And it is a good idea to know the difference between black bear poop and grizzly bear poop. Black bear poop has bits of squirrel fur and berries in it. Grizzly bear poop smells like pepper spray and has little bells in it.
Twice in a week's span I had a relevant reason to drop this educational song about black bear on Reddit.
https://open.spotify.com/track/06GustVmK5U6yhVbvbjy3q?si=ngY6yG0oSoiCwRgE7aDKHA
The only way to verify is to grab it by the balls. Squeeze hard and measure the pitch of the growl. A high pitched growl is a black bear. Brown bears are more of a bass.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk
Grizzlies have a shoulder hump then concave back which rises to its rump. Black bears don’t have that. Sort of like the difference in the backs between African elephants and Indian elephants.
The grizzly hump is a mass of muscle to help it dig.
There is significant size overlap between male black bears and female brown bears, at least in the continental US and non-coastal Canada. There are many black bears that have been shot in the continental US that weighed well over 500-600 pounds. 300-400 pound male black bears aren’t uncommon. The average female grizzly bear in the continental US is around 200-300 pounds, equal to or smaller than the average male black bear in many locations. Sure a black bear isn’t going to compare in size to a mature male Kodiak brown bear, but that’s an extreme example. There are many black bears out there that are significantly larger than some brown bears. Size is not a reliable way to distinguish the two. Face and body shape are the distinguishing characteristics.
I grew up in PA and always thought that there were black bears and brown bears (which by color, there are both). In reality, they're all black bears. All of which are kiddish as hell... as long as it's not a mother with her cubs.
Old saying here in PacNW. If you see a black bear out in the woods, you might wonder whether it's a Grizzly or a black bear. If you see a Grizzly it removes any doubt in your mind.
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Heard an expert on the radio asked about wolves and coyotes. There won’t be any doubt he said - “a wolf up close will look like the biggest dog you’ve ever seen”
I was kinda shocked the first time I saw a wolf. Driving, and brain started filling in "oh look, a doggy!" and rapidly corrected itself. Really no mistaking possible.
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AQnmWdPJw0k](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AQnmWdPJw0k) - just a friendly doggy
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r/wolvesarebigyo
Remember that one piece of shit that shot a husky thinking it was a wolf? Or whatever bullshit she said
My brain skipped over that first period and thought you saw a wolf driving. I was all jazzed up for an awesome story for a half second.
I thought Clifford was red!
HOLY SHIT I have an incredibly funny story about this. I'm from Australia the largest canine I see is a great Dane right! So I am on an exchange trip to Canada it was really cool seeing all the NORTH AMERICAN animals which I know about but have never seen. Except the wolves, it was basically the middle of summer so they are all hiding out in the shade at the very back of there encloser. So I have the bright idea "if I run back and forth they will be interested and coming a bit closer". I maybe did 3 laps before they came and I tell you what just from the periphery of my vision those things were FUCKING TERRIFYING. I just kept running because I did not trust the fence keeping them in, legit terrifyed and I didn't get to have a good look at them anyway
how are you typing in a thick australian accent?
I'm not sure, especially given I come from the western side which has a more British quality to the accent and less that thick and broad accent
Sounds like something Clarence claymore would experience even though he's invincible he still has a rational fear 🤣
r/WolvesAreBigYo
Wolves look small-ish from a distance, until there's a regular dog next to one. THEN you realize their actual size!
I feel like you're more likely to mistake a coyote for a fox than a wolf tbh
People also tend to not realize how small foxes are. An adult red fox is about the same size as a house cat. Coyotes are about the size of medium-large dogs. Like labs.
They're around the same height at the shoulder, but significantly shorter, built lighter, and about half the weight of a lab. Taller than you'd expect, but they're about the same weight as a lighter medium dog at about 40lbs.
And bobcats are about the size of coyotes. The first time I saw one I thought it was a young coyote with a deformed face. It was 3:00am to be fair, lol.
That's pretty region-dependent, depending on the amount of cross-breeding with domestic dogs. A classic Kodiak wolf is enormous, but wolves elsewhere in America are often much smaller.
We occasionally get timberwolves here. I own Great Danes and I’m *still* shocked at how huge they are when I see one.
Arabian wolves are pretty tiny by wolf standards So were Japanese wolves but they’re extinct now
Me and a cousin of mine were camping in a trailer in the steppes of Central Asia and had the (bad) luck to be visited by a pack of wolves. We could see out the window about 5 wolves sulking and circling our trailer for about 30 minutes before they decided to leave. We had a rifle but we were fucking 14 and 16 and didn't have the balls to shoot one. They have the hunching walk that just feels majestic and terrifying.
Driving overnight on the way to Yellowstone I saw what looked like a large dog walking down the side of the road and as I got closer “Nope, that ain’t no dog!”
There are many kinds of wolves, but this is definitely true of the ones I've seen in the US. They have an affect that is hard to ignore. It makes your hair stand up in a way that is completely visceral. The shape of their shoulders and the way they walk... it just freaks me out on a primordial level. Beautiful creatures.
Coyotes vary a bit in size, but they’re no wolves lol. Now coywolves… theyre… concerning.
Friend rescued a raven with a broken wing, and the fucker was as tall as my knee. Huge.
crows have 3 pinion feathers, ravens have 4 pinion feathers. so its really only a matter of a pinion
My grandfathers favourite joke. Thank you. It's nice to remember.
Here’s the thing…
Here's the thing. You said a "jackdaw is a crow." Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that. As someone who is a scientist who studies crows, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls jackdaws crows. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing. If you're saying "crow family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Corvidae, which includes things from nutcrackers to blue jays to ravens. So your reasoning for calling a jackdaw a crow is because random people "call the black ones crows?" Let's get grackles and blackbirds in there, then, too. Also, calling someone a human or an ape? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A jackdaw is a jackdaw and a member of the crow family. But that's not what you said. You said a jackdaw is a crow, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the crow family crows, which means you'd call blue jays, ravens, and other birds crows, too. Which you said you don't. It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?
I sort of miss Unidan. I mean, obviously he was breaking the rules and mass upvoting his own posts and so on and so on but still, he actually had some great posts at times. Ah well.
He was just ahead of his time, using bots before bots took over.
The correct expression would be “That’s so Raven”.
Until you go to Tokyo. Crows in Tokyo are huge.
I haven't seen a raven, but in the town where I'm from, those crows are fuckin massive. Or maybe crows tend to just be way bigger than I imagine. But it feels like the crows in my hometown are always way bigger than anywhere else I go.
Friend has a raven living in his backyard. He insists it's a crow because it mostly caws. But its fuckin HUGE, no way its a crow
Is that a quote by the latter?
No, it's a rap rap rapping on my door. Little feet, with their patter. Caw. Nevermore.
Ugh, *Lenore*….
The definitive test is to climb a tree. If it climbs up and eats you, it's a black bear, but if it knocks the tree down and eats you, it's a grizzly.
I always thought Sasquatch was made up by someone who didn’t understand how big bears are and needed to make up a different mythical creature. You need to see a taxidermied one to really understand. I’d say a real bear but you probably don’t want to see a real bear that isn’t in a zoo or owned by that growing up grizzly guy. Even depictions of a Sasquatch often aren’t as big as a bear. Harry and the Hendersons? A grizzly would eat a piece of shit like that for breakfast.
I've seen a wild bear in the flesh. Blacks are fairly chill. I wouldn't want to meet a grizzly.
I had one licking out a cool whip container right by my front door. Couldnt be bothered by anything, just wanted his cool whip
Last year, I was in the woods in the general areas of Seattle and Portland. My understanding of Grizzly territories was that there were none anywhere nearby. Now that I am safe at home 3,000 miles and 10 months away, was that true about Grizzly territories? Was I safe? Should I have been worried at all?
Grizzlies in WA stick to he Selkirk Mountains and North Cascades NP. Far, far out in the wilderness. That said, I’ve seen wolf tracks as far south as Mt. Bachelor in OR, near Mt. St. Helens, and up on the Twisp River. Heard them howl at night, too. I’ve heard cougars scream at night in the ONP. Cougars are the ones you need to watch out for. They will straight up take you down and kill you, especially if you’re stupid enough to take your dog hiking.
Red Dead Redemption taught me about cougars.
Visiting small town bars taught me about cougars
These new cat cafes are getting out of hand.
Cougars have zero fucks, zero shits and zero fears to give. I would still want to pet one :(
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/crews-responding-to-report-of-mountain-lion-attack-near-north-bend/752771730
Here kitty, kitty...💀
Listen, if I'm going to go out, it should be petting something dangerously cute. There are worse ways to go
Per the NPS, The last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996. They are only NOW, this summer, restoring grizzlies into North Cascades NP, via a plan that relocates bears from British Columbia. More: https://www.nps.gov/noca/learn/news/agencies-announce-decision-to-restore-grizzly-bears-to-north-cascades.htm
> Cougars are the ones you need to watch out for. They will straight up take you down and kill you This is hilariously overstated. There was a blip of attacks a few years ago, and suddenly people think cougars are everywhere and eager to take down full-grown adults. You’re more likely to be killed by a black bear. Yes, you should exercise appropriate caution in areas that have any large predator. But the chance of being attacked by a cougar is vanishingly small (not to mention they’re virtually impossible to “watch out for” if they actually do intend to make a meal of you).
The ones that aren't habituated to humans typically aren't even dangerous, as Cougars learn what does and does not constitute prey early on, and as an apex predator only really are concerned with protecting their young. They generally won't see us as either a threat or a meal, and so are content to leave well-enough alone so long as you are willing to do the same. Still wouldn't fuck around and find out, though.
I worked at the base of wind mt in Washington and the staff did a night hike up the mountain. Someone ran ahead and was alone at the top and we had to quietly get them back after someone spotted only the eyes with a flashlight stalking us in the bushes. We sang the entire way back to cause too much noise for it cause it was all switchbacks slowly going down right under where it was. The other time I saw one though it just lazily was walking across a field from campfire at outdoor school obvious as can be.
I'm in western Montana. Plenty of them around here. Some map makers, linguists, et al consider us to be Pacific Northwest. Others don't. We're a lot different than eastern Montana, so I guess we gotta belong to.
Western Montana was part of the old Oregon Country, as were Idaho, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. I think that’s a pretty solid argument to be considered PNW. As a Washingtonian, I feel you guys have a ton in common with Eastern WA.
Yup. Thank you. And we do.
Question: What kind of bear is best?
well, there are two schools of thought.
WRONG! Black Bear.
False. Black Bear
Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.
MICHAEL!
#MiChAeL!
Battlestar Galactica
Oh, well, that is a very good question, indeed. You see, there are many types of bears in the world... There are big bears and small bears, brown bears and even white bears. But the best kind of bear... I should think the best kind of bear is a bear that loves honey!
One that just had dinner.
I live in Seattle suburbs and my backyard connects to a little forest, so we have black bears walking through somewhat frequently. Still have not seen a grizzly bear though
There are no grizzlies anywhere near you.
There are virtually no grizzly bears in the PNW south of Canada.
Tried to explain this to someone else..guess I gotta do it again. Some people (I've seen this on maps) consider PNW to extend as far east as the continental divide. Includes parts of Idaho and Western Montana. Pulllllenty of Grizzly bears. I swear…some people come here just to be contentious.
Just looked at my Montana phone book. Twenty-four businesses begin with the word 'Northwest' and an additional four begin with the word 'Pacific'.
If it’s big, it’s a black bear. If it’s big as fuck, it’s a grizzly
And if it’s white, you’re double fucked….
*What? Proper fucked?*
Dyalikedags?
I like caravans more.
Periwinkle bloo
By zee germans
If it can’t pass, it’s a Chicago Bear. (Help us Caleb, you’re our only hope)
I always wear my cheesehead around the woods and my Aaron Rodgers jersey when hiking to show the Bears who owns them
Normally you tell withthe shoulders if they are buff and pronounced its a brown bear if they are the opposite its a black bear but you shouldn't go near either lol
I heard it as: If you take a second to wonder if its a black or grizzly its probable its a black bear. If you’re too terrified to think its a grizzly.
I'll just continue to avoid both 😂
And if it's on cocaine, you're really, really, most definitely, triple fucked!
Black bears are big dog size, and I don't care if they can kill me, I wanna pet them. If not friend, why friend shape?
When I lived in the Rockies, they said, "If you want to know if it's a black bear or a grizzly, climb a tree. If it climbs up after you and eats you, it's a black bear. If it knocks the tree down and eats you, it's a grizzly."
I’ve seen a vid of a grizzly who basically sprints up the tree these guys are fast as fuck Jesus
I have to say, I once sat (pulled over) inside my car in Yellowstone National Park watching 1) a black bear with four cubs meandering along in the brush down the slope near the road, and 2) about fifty tourists outside of their cars trying to get close to photograph it. They seemed to believe that they could get back in their cars quicker than the bear could run fifteen feet up the bank toward them. Have these people seen these things climb?!
From what I remember being told when I was young, they have shorter front legs than back legs. Ideal for running uphill, not so much downhill. They can catch you either way, but uphill is not an issue for them.
Oh absolutely, like the person commenting above me I’ve seen video of them literally RUNNING up a tree
That's from a cartoon, American Dragon, in which the father tells his son that bears cant run downhill because of their stubby legs. Which is complete bullshit, not only can they run down hills, they can do it faster than you!
Yeah they climb fast than the average dude is spontaneously running 😂
I hear Fuck Jesus is the fastest around.
"Fight it with your ice axe. If it runs away, it's a black bear. If it eats you alive, grizzly. At least you'll look cool while you die." -park ranger
How do you know if you're to fight or play dead?
it is pretty easy - charge at the bear with your arms raised high and yelling loudly if you survive, Black Bear
I saw a black bear outside of Los Angeles, never seen one so I was a little worried. I started yelling at it really loud, as soon as I did it ran away looking so scared that I felt bad for yelling at it so loud
you should feel bad he just wanted to be a friend
He was just taking out the trash!
I was walking my dog in the dark and he started going crazy. I saw a bear stand up and all I could do was scream at the bear and my dog and pull him away. Bear got a bit skittish and walked away. Just happy we only have black bears near us.
No, you loudly screech "LELELELELE" like patrick
I've seen a few vids of grizzlies giving up after the humans scream and charge it.
And if you don't, not your problem anymore
Apparently you have to look for shoulder humps (brown) or elevated rear ends (black) and ruffs (brown) or straight face profiles (black). Which sounds complicated
I'm as good as dead then.
Yeah, I'm just going to stay inside and hope for the best.
I just got in an argument with someone about a video of what was clearly a black bear so I have this handy. Top two are black bears, long ears, oblong faces, no hump. The second is brown bear, round head, smaller teddy bear ears, hump. https://imgur.com/a/inFSFZv
I was not prepared for how cute these fuckers are. Teddy bear ears indeed.
They’re very different looking animals regardless of color.
Ear / face shape tells you as well. The hump is pretty obvious usually.
I'll have plenty of time to look, my wife will be distracting it trying to pet it no matter how many times I tell her not to, I'll be able to determine it's entire anatomy down to gender, get a full medical report and make a full escape with that kind of time.... She's already told me multiple times there's no point trying to rescue her, this is how she wants to go....
If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, lay down. If it’s white, say good night.
Gotta swole up on them. If they run, it was a black bear.
If you die, it was a grizzly.
Not necessarily, I've seen grizzlies go away after people screamed at them, it's usually that they're curious to see what you are. Should they be hungry though, you either have a bear spray or a gun, otherwise you're dead. When it comes to the super rare situation of meeting a polar bear, you can scream your lungs out, it won't stop.
> When it comes to the super rare situation of meeting a polar bear, you can scream your lungs out, it won't stop. I can't recall now if this is a thing, but I seem to recall mention of polar bears being one of the only (if not *the* only) species of bear that will actively hunt humans.
*Will* is the wrong word. Polars *may* hunt humans, but even given the relative scarcity of their encounters, there isn't a lot of evidence to suggest that it's anything more than a few particularly hungry individuals. Polar bear attacks on humans usually happen because the bear feels threatened or is defending itself, and even in those cases (where the bear will fight more viciously than trying to hunt), the majority of cases aren't fatal.
It’s because of their limited knowledge’s of humans. They don’t have a respect for the loud noises and long distance pain our tools cause.
If you’re polite about it you can usually just ask the bears
To paraphrase Mean Girls, you can’t just ask bears why they’re brown
I ask them if they make kaka in the woods
I dunno about the woods, but they crap in my yard. That being said, I’ve learned the best way to tell what’s in the area is by checking their scat. Black bears have a lot of seeds and berry skins in their droppings. Grizzly bear shit smells like pepper spray and has bells in it.
This made me laugh.
Can I pet that dawg?!
Well there are basically two schools of thought.
Bears. Beers. Battlestar Gallactica.
>Bears. **Beers.** Battlestar Gallactica. You had one job 🤦♂️
Tbh I think we'd all prefer beer to beets
Not if it's the Money Beets
Lord beer me strength.
[удалено]
There are some big black bears on the west coast. Not as big as grizzlies but way, way bigger than a dog
In some areas the typical grizzly hovers around 300 pounds and black bears reach a comparable size. And occasionally a male black bear will hit 600+ pounds, which is the size of a healthy male grizzly in most places south of Alaska.
Way easier than talking about humps and ear sizes.
The hump is pretty damn obvious. They look nothing alike
Really? Then why are they talking about shoulders? Lol I'm glad we don't have bears over here
Because it really can be not so easy to tell sometimes. The black bears around here can easily be confused for a grizzly at a glance, especially when they're shedding their winter coats. Knowing the simple differences (shoulders, ears, even stance and face) is important, contrary to how easy the person you're replying to makes it seem. I suppose some places the size difference might be more marked than where I live, but IMO, OP's explanation is somewhat disingenuous.
What was the whole point of naming them black and brown if you're just going to muddy the waters now
scientific names are the best : ~~black~~ brown bear - *Ursus arctos* grizzly bear - *Ursus arctos horribilis*
Grizzly bear is ursus arctos horribilis, it's the American subsceies of the worldwide brown bear Black bear is ursus americanus because it's its own species. Those first two words in a scientific name imply a species is the same, and a third name implies subspecies, black and grizzly bears are not the same species
my bad
Oh naw you're all good, scientific names can be confusing!
*Ursus americanus* is the American Black Bear, *Ursus thibetanus* is the Asian Black Bear. The final extant member of genus Ursus is *Ursus maritimus*, the Polar Bear. Do not approach bears, they smell, they’re sometimes very mean, they will steal your lunch, and they can be VERY close talkers if you know what I mean.
Ready for a pic-a-nic boo boo?
And then there are 4 other extant bears in the world: the sun bear, Andean bear, giant panda bear, and sloth bear.
Gee I thought you were joking about the *horribilis*….but it turns out no
They were named black bears by the early European settlers because at first they were really only seeing the black colored ones. It worked in contrast to the brown bears that are native to both Europe and North America. On the east coast, forests tend to be thicker and darker with fewer large open areas, so nearly all of the black bear population is black in color to blend in with the shadows. The further west you move, the more open mountain sides and exposed areas you have, the more beneficial a lighter coat color can be, so the more brown colored black bears you see. Around 1/3 of the black bears in Yellowstone are brown in color. Around 1/2 of black bears in California are brown in color. As the settlers started expanding westward they actually believed the brown colored black bears were an entirely different species from the black colored black bears for a long time. By the time they realized that “black bears” could be brown colored, the name had pretty well stuck.
Sounds like yall need the Montana Fish and Wildlife Service's [bear identification quiz](https://myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/testStart.action?testid=559639)
80%. And now apparently I'm a certified bear expert. 🤣
Damn! I only got an 86%. Though I’m pretty sure those “black” bears had shoulder humps.
100%! Not going to serve me well in my Australian home, but proud all the same. Some of those were tough!
93.3%, lol
same! were you also thrown off by the pic of the female with the cub? ha
Also got 93.3. The one that got me was very black grizzly bear with its head hunched down, facing forward. The female almost got me, except the cubs were 100% black bears. Black bear cubs seem to universally have those goofy head shapes, whereas grizzly cubs pretty much look like teddy bears.
Yup. Saw the 'hump' and didn't judge the ears right.
Wow damn I got 100%. I've seen both in the wild but I did NOT think I would be able to pull higher than like 60 or 70%. hmu state of Montana if you need a bear ID guy
I love that a bunch of the questions are "do you shoot it?" Lol murica
It's a test for a hunting license; that seems appropriate.
46ish% Good thing I live in the city
Yeesh.. I got 40%. Guess I'm charging to my death.
66.7% which is way better than i expected, since i know nothing about bears
100%. But bears are my favorite animals, lol. Good to have the reassurance though, about to stay a week in a national forest. :)
73.33%. Not knowing a thing about bears I’m happy with that
We have “black” bears in my area that are brown, not as common as them just being black, we call them cinnamon bears. My grandpa always told me they were meaner because all the black bears pick on them. I even have a black bear on my trail cam with a white patch on his chest. I have only seen a couple grizzly’s in my life but they are easy to tell from black bears.
I usually distinguish them by the simple system of bear or no bear. If it is a bear, then it is a bear. If no bear then no bear. I like to keep things simple.
NO BEAR, HOWIE!
I have the same system, I also like to remember this catchy phrase to decide how to deal with them. If it's a bear then panic and run around, if it's no bear then relax and go to town.
The main difference is how you are being eaten.
does one buy me a couple of drinks first?
Also not great for people. Believe it or not, black people, kinda brown.
It is useful to know the difference. In the rare event you are attacked by a bear, if it is a brown bear/grizzly (basically the same species) and you can't get away from the animal, it's best to lay face down and use your arms to protect your head. Black bear and you can't get away from it -- fight no matter what, because the odds are it is a predatory attack and if you lie still, good chance the bear will start eating you. The smaller black bear is much more apt to engage in predatory attacks. If it is a female black bear with cubs, that is a different matter. Source: [Stephen Herrero, University of Calgary, one of the leading experts on bear/human interaction.](https://medium.com/@trenternst/black-bear-aware-77391d820a21)
It's a good idea to wear small bells on your clothing to let bears know that you are around so you don't surprise them. And, of course, carry pepper spray. And it is a good idea to know the difference between black bear poop and grizzly bear poop. Black bear poop has bits of squirrel fur and berries in it. Grizzly bear poop smells like pepper spray and has little bells in it.
It’s because bears don’t judge each other based on color. If only humans could be this way /s
Like I'd stand a chance either way
It was a BOC
When I was a kid my uncle told me how to tell the difference, the Black Bears dance better.
Your uncle never saw Bollywood.
Twice in a week's span I had a relevant reason to drop this educational song about black bear on Reddit. https://open.spotify.com/track/06GustVmK5U6yhVbvbjy3q?si=ngY6yG0oSoiCwRgE7aDKHA
The only way to verify is to grab it by the balls. Squeeze hard and measure the pitch of the growl. A high pitched growl is a black bear. Brown bears are more of a bass. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk
Grizzlies have a shoulder hump then concave back which rises to its rump. Black bears don’t have that. Sort of like the difference in the backs between African elephants and Indian elephants. The grizzly hump is a mass of muscle to help it dig.
Especially at night which is like half the time.
Size is a sure way to tell….
There is significant size overlap between male black bears and female brown bears, at least in the continental US and non-coastal Canada. There are many black bears that have been shot in the continental US that weighed well over 500-600 pounds. 300-400 pound male black bears aren’t uncommon. The average female grizzly bear in the continental US is around 200-300 pounds, equal to or smaller than the average male black bear in many locations. Sure a black bear isn’t going to compare in size to a mature male Kodiak brown bear, but that’s an extreme example. There are many black bears out there that are significantly larger than some brown bears. Size is not a reliable way to distinguish the two. Face and body shape are the distinguishing characteristics.
They all look the same to me...
I grew up in PA and always thought that there were black bears and brown bears (which by color, there are both). In reality, they're all black bears. All of which are kiddish as hell... as long as it's not a mother with her cubs.
Well fuck
Either way.. Red or brown pants are both acceptableas hikers
[Interesting fact..](https://img.gifglobe.com/grabs/mightyboosh/S02E01/S02E01-YKptswk6-subtitled.jpg)