Some things I'm just not willing to research hands (or nose) on. Bears smell like...?

Perks

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Has anyone here ever smelled a wild bear up close? Do they have a strong odor?

Tell me all about bear funk.
 

jennontheisland

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We camped in the Rockies a lot when I was a kid. One afternoon walk, we all suddenly smelled seriously overpowering wet dog. Like it was haze around us, and it was all we could breathe. We didn't hear anything, since we were aware of bear risks and always talking and singing loudly and had cans full of rocks that we shook while we walked, but the ranger at the park entrance assured us it was the smell of a bear, and it would have had to be pretty damn close for us to smell that.
 

Bushrat

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You can ask one of the wildlife rehabilitation centres like "Bear with us" in Ontario or "Northern Lights Wildife Society" in B.C. for real factual information.
I think in close bear encounters, most people would be too scared to actually notice any smell. Your main thought at that point is how to get away. Keep in mind that the wind has to be coming from the right direction for somebody to smell an animal and that the conditions have to be right (i.e., a dry animal that's been hanging out in a dry meadow, encountered in dry weather in a fragrant fir forest would not emit a smell a person would notice).
 

Okelly65

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you can smell a bear before it even gets close, and for minutes after it leaves the area. Its a very pungent odor you don't forget.
 

Bushrat

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you can smell a bear before it even gets close, and for minutes after it leaves the area. Its a very pungent odor you don't forget.

Must depend on the bear and situation. We live in a fly-in location out in the bush and I've encountered countelss bears, plus sometimes have them hanging out right around our cabin, and rarely ever caught a whiff of them.
 

MaryMumsy

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We have a house in the mountains of NE Arizona, in a sparsely populated area. Bears are not unusual. Brown bears, which are most often black ;). They have been within 25-30 feet of the house, and I've never smelled a thing. The possums, however, are a totally different story.

We have an assortment of wildlife. Deer, elk, raccoons, red foxes, the occasional bobcat, the very rare mountain lion, etc. The only thing I've ever smelled was the possums.

MM
 

Okelly65

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. The only thing I've ever smelled was the possums. MM

Now see, I cant smell possums. I even have one that comes up on the back porch to try and score cat food. Maybe I have a weird nose. :D