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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ChuckB" data-source="post: 1248200" data-attributes="member: 67376">Oh, no, certainly not!  Pride dictates that I must declare that I know a dog from a bear, at second glance, anyway!Seriously, I don't think that has happened.  On the trails where I hike, dogs are always accompanied by people.  Not always on a leash, but always within calling distance of a person.When I saw that "dog," the first clue that it was a bear was that it was alone.  Second, when it moved, I could see the flat-footed step of its hind foot.  This whole recognition process took less time than it took to draw a breath to say, "Look!  A bear!"  When I spoke, what actually came out was, "That is a bear!"Now, birds are another story with me.  I can virtually always recognize a bird as a bird, and I think I'm pretty good at classifying birds by family, but I don't always know the species.  I'm working on it, but I think the birds might cooperate by having less cryptic plumage in the young and female.  Males usually (but not always) have the courtesy to have distinctive colors and patterns.</blockquote>