Mama Bear Stare

Out shooting a cabin last week. I was out in the back area shooting some amenities and chatting with the property manager. She abruptly said, "Come this way," and then pointed out in the woods. All I saw was black fur, grabbed the camera and we headed back up to the lower deck.
We saw it was a mama with the smallest baby I have ever seen in the wild. So, I went back to my vehicle to get my zoom and told my son (who was inside) if he wanted to see her, so he came out on the upper deck.
We watched her (with the back door open so we could step inside if necessary). It was pretty dense with limbs and leaves so I never got a good shot of the baby. But, seeing how she was looking at me, I certainly wanted to keep a large distance between us for both our sakes.
We heard them rustling down through the woods so we finished up (from the deck) and packed gear to leave. We were standing out beside our vehicles talking when my son pointed down the road behind me and said, "The bear is back." She was very close and had very quietly flanked us. I could have gotten a close up, but opted not to push my luck and we all jumped into our vehicles. When we closed the doors, she went back down into the woods.
I have read that most mamas make noise with grunts and growls, etc to scare you away and if they are silent, they are stalking you. It certainly felt like she did not like my camera noises (hence the look in the photo) and might have been ready to eliminate the threat.
I will be paying much closer attention while I am outside from now on! ????
Read less