Thanks to Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks for this tutorial on how quickly distinguish between grizzly bear and black bear tracks. To keep the explanation short and sweet just like the video, it comes down to the number of toes, the space between the toes and the pad, and the length of the claws. Hope this helps you the next time your out in bear country and come up on some tracks. To learn more about bear safety in Montana GO HERE.
Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Bear Track Identification Tips:
Long claws on the front feet are also a good way to tell a grizzly from a black bear. For obvious reasons, this method has its limitations!
Grizzly bears have gently curved, often light-colored, two- to-four-inch long claws adapted for digging roots and excavating a winter den. The claws of an adult grizzly can be longer than a person’s finger.
Black bears have shorter, more sharply curved, dark claws that are often less than two inches long. These claws are well adapted for climbing trees and tearing into rotten logs in search of insects.
The difference in claws help distinguish the difference in the tracks.
Compared to a black bear’s tracks, grizzly tracks of the front feet are more square. If you take a straight edge and hold it across the track of a grizzly front foot, just in front of the pad and behind the toe on either side, it will not cross the toe on the other side of the foot.
A black bear front track is more rounded and a straight edge will cross the toe on the other side of the foot.
