Bear sound effects

The full open-throated call, chesty underneath with a torn edge on top. It is what most people arrive looking for, and the top edge is what stops it turning into a big cat.

Pushed out through a closed mouth and held, so it never resolves into anything. A held growl is more useful than a roar in most scenes, because it can run underneath a line of dialogue.

Dry percussive air and teeth with no vocal tone at all. This is the real warning a bear gives, and using it instead of a roar is the fastest way to make a wildlife scene read as accurate.

High, nasal and wavering, breaking into a whine at the end. It changes the meaning of every other card on the page, because an adult nearby is suddenly a mother rather than a threat.

Padded weight coming down into dry leaf litter, slow and evenly spaced. Nothing tells an audience how large an animal is faster than the pace at which it moves.

Wet irregular sniffs right at the microphone, with air dragging through moisture. Reach for it when the animal has to feel close enough to touch and nothing in the frame shows it.