Bear droppings are over an inch thick, and tubular. Bears are shy animals and will usually run from humans. They sometimes raid human garbage, compost piles, or pet food dishes that are left outside. The inner toe in the track is the smallest toe. Bears walk plantigrade or flat-footed.
Bears use the same trails over and over for generations.
They tend to place their feet in exactly the same place every time they use the trail. You can find these trails where each footfall is in a depression worn into the ground by the passage of so many bears over the years. Personal Notes on Black Bears I never lived in bear country until about seven years ago, when I moved to northern California. Black bears are abundant here. The last California grizzly was shot in 1922 in Tulare County.