American bear researchers, says: "Bears have better senses than we do and they know their environment better than we do. If we only knew how many thousands of times each year they take care of us ... and we don't even know they're around." Yet every year, humans are slain by bears, and bears killed by humans. Why? Dr. Jonkel says there are two reasons: "1) We simply don't know bear etiquette and 2) Our rules are too inconsistent for bears to understand." Research utilizing radio telemetry seems to support Jonkels theory--that in some places, bears really are trying to get along in order to go along. And that many of their human neighbors are rallying to the animals' support. In some cases, study bears have been closely monitored for years, with hundreds of location fixes identified via radio transmitters attached to the beasts. Discoveries include mammoth grizazlies amid densely populated areas, without their human neighbors being the wiser. In other cases the bears appear to be indifferent to humans: sows and cubs feeding on lawn clover while subdivision home owners shoot video footage through their living room windows. This book, Learning to Talk Bear, documents all the above and more utilizing biological research, and mixing the experiences of veteran outdoorsman-journalist Roland Cheek. The author uses trademark with and humor to both entertain and teach about a mostly unknown side of the most powerful carnivores on earth, demonstrating an advanced understanding of bear etiquette and a clear willingness to travel and recreate within the great beasts' living room, following rules they, too, can understand.

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