Musky Smell Can Mean Bear Country

If you catch a sudden strong musky animal odor in the woods (people describe it as a combination of a horse stall/petting zoo and coffee grounds or even wet dog), treat it as a precaution and leave the area calmly. Bears communicate through scent, including urine and other body markings, and Alaska wildlife guidance notes that bears leave scent in their urine, while researchers studying black bears have documented a noticeable musky smell, especially in mature males during mating season. That odor is not precise enough to identify by a neat human comparison, but in bear habitat it can signal that a bear has recently marked the area or is nearby. The safest response is to back away, stay quiet, and avoid surprising anything ahead of you.

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