Or worse, it decides to join the lineman in the bucket.

Was thinking something up there Bear wants!

With not a single tree in sight, the poor bear is scared AF.

Well, I know how this bear votes.

Black bears used to live in almost the entirety of the continental United States and Canada. They prefer woodland areas but can get by anywhere with food and water. My first guess would be that this bear lives in or near an urban area.

Cochise county is the south eastern corner of AZ. It’s about 50/50 Sonoran desert and mountainous area. This definitely appears to be the desert area. I’ve never seen a bear outside mountainous areas personally, pretty sure that’s a rare occurrence.

Oh, I couldn’t bear it

This is how dumb a bear is: He has already ascertained that the top of a pole is a good place to be (don't worry about how he came to that decision, that's a different discussion), so when he was forced down from that pole, he doesn't process the new information that the top of a pole invites humans, and attempted lynching, he immediately defaults to his previous decision to run up the next pole!

But then he finally demonstrates what has brought him 3/4 of the way up the food chain: he stops halfway up the pole, and reflects on a new concept. As he looks into the distance, about to shimmy up that pole, he sees emptiness, no humans with poles and nooses at all. That just might be a better idea than climbing this pole.

It takes him a while to process this new concept, but he eventually makes his best Darwinian decision, and runs for it!

Is the other 29% gone when he had his arm taken off by a bear?

Counterpoint: probably freaked the fuck out

Furry coming down to you