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BURKE COUNTY, NC - Kristen Jones was relaxing by Lake James when one of the friendly neighborhood dogs came by and sniffed her shoulder. When she reached up to pet him, as he licked her neck, she realized it wasn't a dog at all. It was a black bear.
She immediately froze and the bear wandered away. She stumbled into the lake, but it's 2016 and her phone was in her hands, so her next instinct was to do what we all would've done: take pictures for Facebook. It wasn't until afterwards that the impact of the danger she had been in hit home.
What do the experts say you should do if you come face to face with a black bear? Don't try to run away- you can't outrun a bear and the bear's instinct will be to chase you. But definitely don't play dead. That only works with brown bears. You should stand tall, clap, yell, and throw things. To avoid bears completely, be noisy and don't let them smell your food. They usually only get too close to humans when they're hungry.
Luckily for Kristen Jones, this bear wasn't interested in her for food. Or maybe he was on a diet, and only wanted a tiny taste.