you mean bears don't hoot?
This is a bit of "rural legend" from Vermont (USA). I grew up in a very remote area with lots of wildlife (moose, bears, etc.) and always believed that the "hooting" sounds I heard were a couple of black bears communicating across the ridges.

Well, last year I was working at a mountain camp in southern VT. I got there first in the morning and when I was getting my gear together I heard a bear hooting really close by. When the homeowner showed up later I told him about it and he said he had never heard of bears hooting and what did it sound like and why did they do it. He said he had seen a black bear in the tree right next to the camp last summer but had never heard the hooting.

When I got home I did some googling hoping to find a recording I could send the poor flatlander. I should have known right away that something was amiss when google didn't return anything. I did find a good website about bears with lots of info and actual recordings. www.bear.org/Black/Sounds.html They have recordings of a growl, a moan, a bear family conversing, something called "blowing and chomping" and more but nothing about hooting.

"What gives?" I say to myself. So I emailed the site admin and the very next morning, the bear guru himself, Dr. Lynn Rogers, replied to me. Here's his reply:

"Nik, I knew as soon as I saw that subject line that this email was from Vermont, possibly New Hampshire. That is where this legend exists. I have not heard anyone ask about it or believe it anywhere else. Barred owls make the sound that people in Vermont have described to me as hooting bears. If you want to test it, get a CD of barred owls, play it on a boombox where you hear the hooting, and see what comes. You can make a pretty good imitation yourself. My best success was to call three barred owls at once doing that...."

Oh well.
(n1k, Fri 6 Jan 2006, 17:53, Reply)