Originally Posted by
stardognine
I was coming back west, on route 50, right where the road forks off, to Boone. There's an old gas station there, and I was just fixing to sit down, leaning against the wall. I didn't see anything at first, just noticed the sound of a car slowing way down. I turned to look, and a very young bear was crossing the road, coming straight towards me. I think he smelled my pizza. 😁
Somehow, in the confusion, the bear decided he didn't want anything to do with me, and turned up that other road, towards Boone. The older couple who startled him, just looked at me, like "did you see that?".
I was mostly concerned with his mother and/or father, but saw neither.
By looking on the web, he was probably a young black bear, even though his hair looked blonde. He wasn't very big, but still counts as running into a bear, in the wild. 😎
Congratulations on your bear encounter. You needn’t have worried about the youngsters father. The only reason he might be nearby would be to eat the younger bear. The main reason sows are so defensive of their cubs is the males proclivity for cannibalizing any smaller, younger bear. Sows can be highly variable when encountered with their cubs. Most around here are far from their ferocious reputation. They often put them up a tree and run off until danger passes.