Ah! That feels so good! Sure looks like it, but that isn’t what is happening here. Black bears, young, mature, female, male, all bears mark trees, utility poles and wooden sign posts along their paths of travel.

Most bears that do this marking are males during mating season. They do this marking by rubbing their scent on marking trees. Rubbing, rubbing, rubbing shoulders, neck, back and crown.

They’ll also claw and bite the marking tree (whether it is that wooden sign post, utility pole or actually a tree) often leaving great scars in the wood. Utility poles seem to be a favorite, employing this marking as a way to communicate, one bear to another.