High Sierra Topix

How aggressive or smart a black bear is may depend on what we do to them. An aggressive or smart bear that is protected (think National Park) will be successful at obtaining food than will a more passive or less inquisitive bear. However, where people hunt, an aggressive or risk taking bear will probably wind up on somebody's dinner plate, his passive or fearful brethren will survive and pass on the genes. Thus we have the super smart bears of Yosemite, while bears up in the Marble Mountains, where the locals hunt them frequently, definitely make a point of being under people's radar, hiding in the bushes and not coming out. When I hiked the Marbles a few years ago, I would find that on occasion, I could smell what I was pretty sure was a bear very close in the brush. I was right on top of them, but they wouldn't budge. Smart bear. He/she knew I either couldn't smell them (most humans) or I wasn't stupid enough to risk a close encounter. Granted it was late in August and bow season was starting in a few days. Smart Bear