When humans are perceived as the source of food, bears may attack if they are denied the food they have come to rely upon. Learning plays a large role in a cub's ability to obtain food. Its relatively slow development and prolonged tie with its mother allow it to observe the mother's skills and to remember sites and experiences. Even the mostly herbivorous spectacled bear must learn when and where to find the most nutritious parts of plants in each season. Feeding generalists such as the omnivorous black and brown bears survive by remembering from year to year where and when to return to salmon runs, rich patches of ripe berries, and other concentrated foods important for energy reserves for hibernation.
Bears appear to sense and avoid each other at a distance.
Within a home range, trees may be clawed, bitten, and rubbed to serve as communicating signposts. Although little firm data exist on the function of marking behavior in bears, smelling such sites could provide other bears with information about the range's occupant. Large resident males disperse subordinates, so the signposts could cause intruders to avoid the area and thus provide a basis for territoriality.