Bears like to play and communicate
 

First lets talk about communicating. Bears communicate to each other and other species by marking their territory. Its common for a bear to peel the bark off a live tree to show that is his area. There are times I have walked along mountain trails and not seen any bears...but when I came back down the trail several hours later I saw freshly marked trees, so the bear knew I was there and was communicating to me...

They will also scratch on the sides of my cabin to let me know that is their territory, not mine. I have this ongoing difference of opinion on that matter....

Now, this old cabin of mine is at the base of the mountains and a major game trail runs at the back of the place all the way up to the top and into the best hunting territory in our borough (like a county). Everybody uses this trail...the brown bears, the black bears, the moose, the wolves and coyotes...the people, etc...

In the spring when the brown bears come off the mountain and I am not around they wander through the place and make themselves at home...sometimes they wander through when I'm there too.

Now for the bears like to play part....Bears love to bite into things. If they find my plastic gas cans they will bite holes in the can. Every time ! Also, they love beer. I had a case of beer stashed under the tarp covering the wood pile and the bear found it. This happens every year. Luckily they have never broken into this cabin and caused a real mess...I've had that happen before in another place but thats another story...

Oh yeah...the barbecue...he got behind and starting pushing with his paws and bent it over 90 degrees. Just playing around he didn't mean no harm. I brought it back into town and am getting it fixed...and beefed up.

Anyway here's a brown bear just talking to me and playing around a bit...

.........

Re: Bears like to play and communicate
 

Heck...I knew why the bear came to your house as soon as I saw your photos.

I remember these commercials from when I was a little girl.

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Re: Bears like to play and communicate
 

ha ! yeah thats right, i forgot about that hamms commercial. I don't drink alcohol anymore, but i generally have some brewski's around to serve to guests....

i guess it was about eight years or so ago...i had this one black bear that would take aluminum cans and stash them in a nearby spring down in the water...he was very careful not to damage them, and hid them as if they were his toys...all stacked up together !

i don't know what happened to him...he was a big black bear and may have died of old age but i liked having him around, though he was a tad bold...

Re: Bears like to play and communicate
 

Yes! Bears do play and communicate:


And this is what happens when a bear wins: