We have a real treat in this video that was pieced together from several short clips of Woody Bear in his Wild Enclosure. As we have said, Woody is very shy and reclusive, preferring to hide in the underbrush or in the trees whenever he senses a curator nearby. That is the kind of behavior we want to see, but it’s a bit frustrating to the curators who try to capture him with a camera. Occasionally they manage to see him for a few seconds, and this video is the result of many of those glimpses. It is a treat because we can see so many different types of actual bear behavior. Click here to watch – we promise you will enjoy it and be educated about behavior.
Like all black bears, Woody is timid and on constant alert for danger. Black bears have excellent hearing and a powerful sense of smell. They breathe through their nose and mouth in order to obtain as much information from the air as they can. You can watch Woody exercising his senses in these assembled video clips. You’ll see him “huff” and “bluff-charge”. This behavior may be directed at nothing in particular; he may be telling whatever it is that is making him nervous to keep away. Woody is hoping to frighten away danger without having to confront it. Black Bears bluff-charge, huff, blow and stomp to give warning. If the danger persists, black bears will run away if they can, or will attack if they can’t.