They also role at the base of the tree. Leaving scat is another marking method. In one isolated case a bear actually marked a cabin in the wood on Moon Haw Road in Olive. Every corner of this log cabin was all scratched up. One common cause of bears coming out of the woods in large numbers is the weather.
Droughts can affect the abundance of natural bear food.
When this happens bears go in search of other food sources. In 1995, which was a dry year, the DEC relocated approximately 20 bears. Last year, they relocated only a handful. We had a drought in 1995 and the number of complaints was way, way up. You could follow the progression of the bears coming down from the hills.