Two bears fight it out...

Two bears fighting so naively!


Bears produce a variety of vocalizations such as:^{[citation needed]}

• Moaning, produced mostly as mild warnings to potential threats or in fear,
• Barking, produced during times of alarm, excitement or to give away the animal's position.
• Huffing, made during courtship or between mother and cubs to warn of danger.
• Growling, produced as strong warnings to potential threats or in anger.
• Roaring, used much for the same reasons as growls and also to proclaim territory and for intimidation.
• Humming, a loud monotonous buzzing sound, primarily employed by cubs.^[31]

The English word "bear" comes from Old English bera and belongs to a family of names for the bear in Germanic languages that originate from an adjective meaning "brown".^[3] In Scandinavia, the word for bear is björn (or bjørn), and is a relatively common given name for males. The use of this name is ancient and has been found mentioned in several runestone inscriptions.^[4]
The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the bear is *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, whence Sanskrit r̥kṣa, Avestan arša, Greek ἄρκτος (arktos), Latin ursus, Welsh arth (whence perhaps "Arthur"), Albanian ari, Armenian արջ (arj). Also compared is Hittite ḫartagga-, the name of a monster or predator.^[3] In the binomial name of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, Linnaeus simply combined the Latin and Greek names.
The Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word for bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos seems to have been subject to taboo deformation or replacement in some languages (as was the word for wolf, wlk^wos), resulting in the use of numerous unrelated words with meanings like "brown one" (English bruin) and "honey-eater" (Slavic medved).^[5] Thus, some Indo-European language groups do not share the same PIE root.
"Bear" was originally a euphemism for the creature, and was said by superstitious peasants who believed saying the actual term for "bear" would summon it. Because peasants avoided saying the original name, it has been lost to history and "bear" has replaced it.^{[6][unreliable source?]}


While many people think bears are nocturnal, they are, in fact, generally diurnal, active for the most part during the day. The belief that they are nocturnal apparently comes from the habits of bears that live near humans, which engage in some nocturnal activities, such as raiding trash cans or crops while avoiding humans.^{[citation needed]} The sloth bear of Asia is the most nocturnal of the bears, but this varies by individual, and females with cubs are often diurnal to avoid competition with males and nocturnal predators.^[27] Bears are overwhelmingly solitary and are considered to be the most asocial of all the Carnivora. Liaisons between breeding bears are brief, and the only times bears are encountered in small groups are mothers with young or occasional seasonal bounties of rich food (such as salmon runs).^[27]