Bears don't usually want to eat you but they are very territorial

Whereas a Mountain Lion is carnivorous a Bear is Omnivorous like a human. It can eat almost anything. I find the best way to think of a bear is like a big huge wild dog. It thinks very similar to huge wild dog and it is the apex predator. In other words it has NO real predators (other than humans with a gun). So, often bears have never even seen a human being before (or very very few) and their ignorance of humans is both a good thing and a bad thing for humans.

But, usually a bear doesn't want to eat a human being because we don't taste very good. Same thing with sharks. They don't want to eat a human being because they don't have the fat content of a seal. So, for this reason once they taste a human being they often spit them out.

But, a bear is very territorial. In other words bears will fight over their territory and so often they are willing also to fight you for their territory so they can hunt and stay alive. If you realize this is what is happening often you can just walk the other way so he (or she) doesn't think you want to do a territorial fight over a hunting territory. I have learned when I see a bear to just walk their other way. You don't scream. You don't make a lot of noise. You just turn around and walk the opposite way and often the bear will do the same (if it doesn't have cubs). If there are cubs just watch out because almost anything could happen then. For example, you don't want the cubs to follow you out of curiosity because that could be fatal to you (or indirectly to them).

A Black Bear (that's all their is mostly) in the U.S. except for a few Grizzly bears in Yellowstone and Glacier National Park except for Alaska and Canada now.

So, I'm specifically talking about seeing a black bear in places like Yosemite National park where they are very very common.