>>2526996I don't have any pictures of my encounters because I'm more concerned with reading the situation than recording it.
But i'll tell you this: Bears and other high mammals are a lot like people. Strong, furry, powerful people. They have emotions, they have egos. They usually want nothing to do with me, as
>>2526999 said. But because they have egos, they respond to wounds to their pride.
For example: I was walking down a tundra hillside, when above me a brown bear was walking sideways to me about 200 meters away. He knew I was there but absolutely did not care. I just talked to myself at a normal volume and he kept walking away.
On the other hand, I was with a group of 3 and we were walking along another tundra hillside. We saw a black bear below us. We immediately began yelling and making noise to scare it away. This time, the thing developed a keen interest in us. It stayed in the valley for the entire day.
That showed me that bears respond badly to perceived challenges, just like people. You should only start making noise/freaking out once the bear shows interest in you. Otherwise, just speak in a normal tone and give the thing some space.
>>2527977In my experience, I've had worse experiences with black than brown bears. Maybe this is only where their ranges overlap, but my theory is that blacks get picked on constantly by the big guys. So they are more aggressive towards weaker bears and people in turn. Whereas the big guys only get into scraps if its necessary to defend their territory or cubs.
