The claws on the front paws are much shorter than a grizzly's and generally not visible from a distance. Every adult bear has an individual territory. Part of that territory is the bear's exclusive domain, but it also shares part with other bears. The territory is composed of several smaller food source areas connected by travel lanes. The home range of a mature male bear will often overlap the home range of several female bears.
Black bears prefer wooded cover and usually avoid open areas.
They often use stream and creek beds as travel lanes because this avoids thick undergrowth and provides a barrier-free escape route. This is particularly true in areas where there is heavy urban build-up. Black bears are the most widely found and most numerous kind of bear in North America. Black bears come into contact with more humans than almost any other species of bear. This is the one bear species that seems able to survive in populated areas.