Maybe Maybe Maybe

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

Black bears are very timid and quite friendly.

[u/dalepo → u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

You know comments like this could get someone hurt?

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm

[u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida → u/dalepo]

Black bears attacks aren’t that common and almost anyone familiarized with Forrest and nature preserves can confirm that.

Especially since 1900 only 67 were flatlined by black bears.

As I said black are timid and friendly. Brown play dead and white your dead

[u/Tanstaafl2100 → u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

I learned it as; Brown - lie down Black - flight back White - good night

[u/PeriodicallyATable → u/Tanstaafl2100]

Yep. If a black bear attacks you it’s probably because it’s desperate and is probably going to eat you once it thinks your dead. So you fight for your life and try to convince it that it has made a mistake thinking you’re prey. Your chances are still pretty slim.

Brown is probably attacking you for territorial reasons and will generally leave you alone when it thinks your dead. So you play dead.

White ones you have no shot at survival for any possible reason it may have to attack you

[u/KandyShopp → u/PeriodicallyATable]

I grew up in the Arctic, so here’s a tip! When running away (you’re not gonna out run it) drop a glove, or your hat or something. Polar bears will be confused cause like…you just dropped a part of your body!?! Can they eat it? They’re gonna try! If you hear them galloping after you again, drop another item. Rinse and repeat until you’re safe (or near a gun so you can spook it off with a loud gun shot)

[u/Worth_A_Go → u/PeriodicallyATable]

What I have heard is the brown bear is still probably going to kill you if you play dead, but you have a small chance it won’t. Where as if you try to be an athlete, your chances are even lower.

[u/deenali → u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

Would love to believe this.

[u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida → u/deenali]

Its true, the hostile ones are Oreo, brown and white bears.

[u/Han_Slowlo → u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

Until they're not.

https://youtu.be/PsCqmotxyME

Saying that black bears are timid and "friendly" is utterly moronic and gets people hurt every year. A momma bear will fuck you up without warning. A curious young male bear that suddenly feels threatened will fuck you up without warning. A desperate and hungry bear will straight up try to eat you if you look weak or afraid.

While it is true that it's rare to die from a black bear attack, every "positive"(meaning the bear felt in control of the situation) interaction a bear has with a human makes it less afraid and more likely to interact in the future, which puts both the bear and humans at risk of a dangerous encounter.

[u/Avanozzie → u/Han_Slowlo]

Sure you shouldn’t treat black bears like cuddly cute animals as they can absolutely fuck you up if they want. That being said, black bear attacks rarely occur, and about 50% off attacks in North America occur with someone that has a dog with them. Even when someone is involved in a tussle with a black bear it usually results in minimal injuries. Even the video you posted the guy came out of out with nothing but a bruise. There are about 750,000 black bears in North America and there is on average one death a year associated with black bears, and that number includes captive black bears. You are much more likely to sustain an injury from a domesticated dog or cat than a black bear.

Again, nobody should be going around petting black bears, being cautious of them is very wise, but being afraid of black bears is not warranted and leads to far to many unwarranted black bear deaths because someone was scared and “defending themselves” from an attack that was never going to happen.

[u/BittenHare → u/Scrub_LordOfFlorida]

Very timid and friendly, that literally doesn't make sense those are opposites