Black bears are basically giant racoons and will move away from people - especially if you're making loud noises and making yourself look big - because they don't want that smoke. They'll only get aggressive if you surprise them or get anywhere near their younglings.

I'd probably take a black bear over a lot of dudes. As long as we got a good hundred feet or so of distance, Mr Bear and I ain't gonna bother each other.

[–] radiofreeval@hexbear.net 11 points 6 months ago

Brown bears aren't human killing machines. They adjust their territory not to see people. Bears in general stay away from people and don't care enough to attack.

[–] Soulcreator@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Totally agreed, the question is so vague it's absurd. Are we talking a panda or a grizzly? Is the man a locked-in paraplegic or an violent ex con?

Regardless how you answer there's always another possibility that makes your decision look stupid.

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah but that's a different scenario all togther. Not all men are dangerous rapists, obviously. But enough are prone to assault and SA that it's statistically safer to have some random bear (possibly grizzly or teddy) than some random man. If you don't feel like the random guy walking down the street is dangerous, that's probably because random men on the street don't regularly harass you, which is unfortunately still a very common occurance to most women.

[–] Soulcreator@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

While I understand and respect your viewpoint, I'm not quite sure you understand what I'm saying here... The question is designed to be a no win scenario, it's phrased in such a vague way that no matter how you answer someone else can chime in and say oh no, your not imagining the terrible scenario I'm imagining. There's literally no way of answering it in a way that someone is going to chime in and tell your wrong.

It's literally designed to be a test designed to gauge your reaction more than it is to be answered seriously.

Without more info one can't possibly respond in a legitimate manner. And any responses without additional information is more of a mirror to your own personal disposition and fears than it is a legitimate response to the question.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 6 points 6 months ago

I was in the smoky mountains with my kids camping, and we heard a bear digging around. My kids started crying, they for sure knew they were dead.

I got out of the tent, stomped my feet so the bear heard me and wasn’t startled, and then went “boogaaboogaaa” and raised my arms. Poor little black bear went running off and kept looking back.

And my kids had a really cool story about when their dad chased away a giant scary bear.