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Black bears use sounds, body language, and scent-marking to express their emotions of the moment.
The main thing that helped me get over my fear of bears was learning their language—learning to interpret bear bluster in terms of their fear rather than my fear—learning that behaviors I thought were threatening were really expressions of their own apprehension.
- Lynn L. Rogers, Ph.D., 2007
Amiable sounds are grunts and
tongue clicks used by mothers concerned for their cubs and by bears
approaching other bears to mate or play. Cubs make a motor-like
pulsing hum when they nurse or are especially comfortable.
(hear sounds below)
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This mother black bear is moving her 3-month-old cubs from their den to
a white pine tree to begin life outside the natal den. The mother is
grunting her concern while the cubs are voicing little squeals of mild
distress.
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Black bear cubs make motor-like pleasure sounds as they nurse. Similar
to a cat's purring, bears make this pleasure sound when they are
especially comfortable, nursing, or eating a special treat. Adults make
this sound with a deeper voice.
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The sounds of a young cub with its mother. The cub is making the
cooing sounds and the mother grunts, which is a common sound mothers
make to cubs.
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Apprehensive expressions are
forceful expulsions of air accompanied by threatening body language and
sometimes deeper throaty sounds. This explosive behavior looks and
sounds very threatening but is harmless bluster from nervous
bears—often mothers with cubs. Bear Center researchers have never had blustery
bears approach and make contact. Out of respect, researchers avoid
crowding these apprehensive bears, but they have found them easy to
chase away.
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Bears blow and clack their teeth with they are afraid. When this is
done in response to being startled by a person, it appears to be a
defensive threat, but they also do it when they scare themselves by
almost falling from a tree.
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High emotion. Black bears use a
human-like voice to express pleasure, pain, high anxiety, and fear.
The most intense sounds are heard in the mating battle video below.
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This is a distress sound made by a fearful cub. This sound is commonly
made when a cub is separated from its mother. This recording was made
while a researcher examined a cub out in the field. The cub was soon
released back to the mother.
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A female bear is threatening a male that is competing for her food. The
main sound is the pulsing threat. A higher pitched moan of fear is
heard briefly from the subordinate male.
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When bears are very scared and in a subordinate role
they moan. This bear was in a barrel-trap, which is a form of live
trap. They also moan when they have escaped up trees or are being
threatened by a nearby dominant bear.
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Bear Pages 
