wild bears eat only berries, right?

We'd been warned there had been bears at the ranch. There had been sightings of one around the pond near the cabin. So I took it upon myself to warn E about the dangers of wild life (anything beyond soi dogs and rabid monkeys is lost on her). This went as well as most of my parentings discussions with her:

Me: What should you do if you see a bear?

E: Catch it!

Me: (facepalm) No! Absolutely not. Bears are very dangerous. They eat children blah blah blah

E: Mo-om, don't worry. We have a plan.

Me: Oh really. And what is this plan.

E: We're going to trap in the woods and trap it.

(Here I should note that E is well versed in traps as she has previously built them for many creatures, including fairies, leprechauns and Santa's reindeer.)

Me: And what will you do when you catch it?

E: Eat it.

Me: No! People do not eat bears.! Bears eat people!

E: Mo-om. (clearly getting annoyed at my ignorance) you don't understand, we're the ones with the trap.

(I wanted to point out none of her traps had previously worked, though excellently executed, but I still thought it more likely we would see a leprechaun than a bear in the wild.)

I was having a hard time seeing elk or moose,  the idea of seeing anything as exotic or powerful as a bear seemed a distant worry. But when my two nieces came running inside one evening, panting and shouting about a bear near the pond, I didn't waste anytime. 

While they sat down to pick out the burrs they'd picked up in their feet from sprinting barefoot to safety, I ran out the door. I passed on the canister of bear spray, instead opting for my camera. Darwin, would of course, applaud this entire scenario.  

Bears are big. He/she (I didn't get close enough to tell) was right across the pond. I snapped a few pictures in awe.

 Then it did this,

 and I got understandably spooked. I was heading up the trail when Rocky (wary of my bear chasing, without the necessary skills or equipment) came down on the four wheeler. I felt infinitely more safe while sitting on the four wheeler and stuck around for more pictures and sheer admiration.

 I even looked the bear in the eye. It looked like a giant teddy bear. I wanted to hug it. Or just warn it about all the traps being planned by my 5 year old.

 All of this was a false sense of security, as my mom informed me, in a series of angry texts later that night, this type of bear can run 35 mph (faster than the 4-wheeler) and does not (as I had believed) eat only berries.

Beetle was more willing than I to get closer.

 After walking a little closer and checking us out,

It went into the woods, where I believe it lives surrounded by lots of berries.

The next day after I had wasted time and patience trying to get a photo of these three, I decided I'd rather photograph a bear in the wild any day.

(This is Vi's "I just stole my sister's bow and I know I'm not supposed to" smile).

But they are so very cute.