Have you ever looked up from your cell phone and realized you’re face to face with a black bear?

So, I went to go sit down on a park bench while I was out on a stroll (I had been working many days in a row, and needed to just get out for a bit. So I went on a stroll through a nature and bike trail not far from the place I’d been staying, and I sat down on a park bench to respond to a message I hadn’t gotten back to in several days. A couple of minutes into composing the message, I notice something out of my peripherial – something black, fuzzy, and oddly shaped. I wondered what that could be. I looked up, and it took me approximately 3 seconds to realize a black bear had mozied it’s way within 10 feet of me (Which just to be perfectly clear is FAR too close for a black bear). It was just exploring, looking for food and had stopped in front of the trash can (Which was bear-proof). It clearly saw me, and wasn’t afraid of me. Once it registered that danger was immanent and pang of fear shot through my body, I got up and started to back away (I happened to have a salmon fish taco in my bag, by the way). I was hoping it wouldn’t take notice of the scent of my salmon taco and I could take it with me. I thought at the time that the bear was a cub (I didn’t realize how small adult black bears are), so I was looking frenetically for its mother as I was backing away. Fortunately for me, it seemed disinterested, and didn’t follow me. The moment I realized it wasn’t following me, I booked it out of there before it could change it’s mind.

FOR THE RECORD, the bear in the above image is NOT the same as the one I came face to face with. This is an adorable one that was in a conservation area. The one I bumped into very much did not have a fence between me and it. I was just too busy running for my life to get a shot, so we’re using this other bear as a photo placeholder.