It’s no secret that bears are some of the most instinctive creatures in all of the wilderness.
They have an incredible sense of hearing and smell, twice the sensitivity of humans, which makes it easier for them to sniff out or hear predators from long distances, as well as prey that could turn into potential dinner.
Needless to say, there’s a pretty damn good chance that a bear is going to sniff your scent or hear you before you hear or see them, which can make them potentially dangerous if they feel threatened in a certain situation.
Here we have a video that perfectly puts a bear’s great instincts and sense of smell into context.
We all know that a porcupine’s main defense is their razor-sharp spiked quills, which are incredibly prickly and can be very painful if touched.
Obviously, this black bear has had a run in with a porcupine and its quills in the past, and doesn’t want to experience that kind of pain again.
The footage was documented by Yukon Wildlife Cams on Sunday, and you can see the black bear approach a tree.
However, it immediately sniffs out a number of porcupines that previously marked that tree, and the bear darts off in the opposite direction. I mean, like a bat out of hell he high-tailed it out of there.
Safe to assume he had a bad run-in with a porcupine in the past? I think so…
David Troup, who runs Yukon Wildlife Cams shared in a Facebook post:
“The highly acute sense of smell that bears possess provides them with information to do such things as find food and in this case, avoid potential danger.
The tree of interest was scent marked many times by porcupines over the summer, and this wet bear’s fight or flight instinct seemingly kicked into gear.”
Check it out:
