# Would A Bear Recognize Fish In A Tank? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261 "2006-09-03T01:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FrantzJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@FrantzJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrantzJ)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/1 "2006-09-03T01:11:16Z")
This could be a stupid question, but if you put a bear in front of a fish tank, the kind they have in lobbies and restaurants, would it know they’re fish? This might be an obvious yes, but it occurred to me that when a bear catches fish, it can usually smell them, which it couldn’t if they were in a tank. And it usually sees them from the top, not the side. God, I post too much. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/2 "2006-09-03T02:20:57Z")
I don’t see any reason why a bear wouldn’t recognize fish in a tank. They are pretty intelligent. They probably don’t normally smell fish before they catch them in a stream, and they surely wouldn’t have any problem recognizing one from the side. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/3 "2006-09-03T02:22:37Z")
Why? Are you planning to let one pick out his own in a restaurant? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/4 "2006-09-03T03:27:31Z")
[Cat!](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/cat5.jpg) [Catfish!](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/catfishBNP_350x300.jpg) Know the differences! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/5 "2006-09-03T11:33:18Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Cat!](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/cat5.jpg) > > [Catfish!](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/catfishBNP_350x300.jpg) > > Know the differences! [Cat? Fish?](http://home.uni-one.nl/krienskatten/fishcat.jpg) These were people who _did not know the diiference in a combat situation_! And look what happened! Now [THIS](http://www.csmngt.com/maekong%20cat%20fish.jpg) is a catfish! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/6 "2006-09-03T22:15:13Z")
I dunno about bears, but my cat seems extremely interested in my aquarium. I don’t know if he knows they’re fish, or even what a fish is, but he watches and watches and watches them. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/7 "2006-09-03T22:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [Catfish!](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/catfishBNP_350x300.jpg) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Now [THIS](http://www.csmngt.com/maekong%20cat%20fish.jpg) is a catfish! [/QUOTE] OMG!!! I had no idea catfish were so huge! Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/8 "2006-09-03T23:11:56Z")
[QUOTE=bienville] OMG!!! I had no idea catfish were so huge! Ignorance fought! [/QUOTE] And lost. A catfish can be any size you want with Photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/9 "2006-09-03T23:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] And lost. A catfish can be any size you want with Photoshop. [/QUOTE] That is, however, an authentic photograph of the [Mekong Giant Catfish](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/photogalleries/gi-antcatfish/) \*Pangasius (\*or _Pangasiodon_) _gigas_, the largest catfish in the world and now endangered. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/10 "2006-09-04T00:13:53Z")
If we assume bears are as smart as raccoons the answer is yes. One night we were sitting in the living room of a friends house looking through the sliding glass door at their patio fish pond. A raccoon came out of the night, took a fish and left. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-bear-recognize-fish-in-a-tank/371261/11 "2006-09-04T00:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] And lost. A catfish can be any size you want with Photoshop. [/QUOTE] You have to buy a special license to go ‘fishing’ with Photoshop!