Surely I am not the only woman who would chose the man, not the bear?

[Idpicktheman]

You know that, would you rather meet a man or a bear in the woods thing?

I would choose the man.

I've hiked in the Rockies where there are bears. If you come across a bear, you have surprised and startled it. All the stories I heard of people being attacked in the Rockies were of people who have surprised bears with their appearance. I blew a whistle every couple of minutes when I hiked to make sure a bear was not surprised by my appearance. Therefore I think if I met a bear in the woods, there is a good likelihood it would attack me.

I also walk in the woods a lot in the UK as I live in a semi-rural area. I regularly come across men and they either ignore me or say hello as they pass and carry on walking their dog/ cycling/ or mountain biking.

So whilst there is a chance a man would attack me, I think the probability is that they would not.

But whilst there is a chance the bear would amble off and leave me alone, the probability is that it would attack me.

So I would chose the man.

( I realise the point of this though experiment is to show that women think this through, because both can be dangerous to them, whereas men instantly say' well, I'd chose the woman obviously' because women are not a danger to them : but I have seen a lot of women instantly saying ' the bear!' but, being literalistic about the actual answer, in all honestly, the bear is more likely to attack you than the man.)

Yellowstone the tv show has a lot of extreme male violence in it. Not so many bears. Hth? 😂

I would only choose the man because I have a chance of outrunning him or fighting him off. But overall Im about equally afraid of both men and bears 😂

I'd choose the bear, Timothy Treadwell spent 13 summers around bears and only got eaten at the end by a starving old bear, if he was a lone woman on an island with the same amount of bears for 13 summers he would have been raped and probably murdered much sooner.

Also surprised how many people assume that if you come across a bear in the woods, it’s highly likely to attack you and you are more likely to die. Many ‘bear conflicts’ happen every year with people being hurt or dying.

But the question isn’t, would you rather be attacked by a bear or a man. The question isn’t if you would rather come across and angry bear, that you startled or has young with it or a man.

Koalas aren't bears, they're marsupials! They're also small.

So he only got eaten to death once? That's alright then.

So I live on the edge of a large village near the school.

last year there was a flasher in the village. He has been reported and the police did zero. The mother of 17 year old who was flashed walking home from the bus stop at 9.30pm was told, by men and women ‘well she shouldn’t be out walking in her own at that time’

what did stop it was someone identifying him and a load of parents going round and having a word. The man moved out of his rented property in days.

in the 6 years I have been here, we have had 2 known sex offenders hanging round the school at school run times. One was eventually spoke to by the police after year and after he attempted to get children to engage with him.

One still doesn’t it now. He was reported the other week, for again being stood outside the school at 3pm, staring at kids. The police won’t do anything. As he claims he is simply going to the shop on the same road.

If you look at responses on these videos, discussing this, you will see exactly why people (especially women) don’t ‘just report it’.

As an aside, We all know most men aren’t predators. But enough of them are (and enough men and women often look the other way) to make being alone with a man in a secluded area a risk for women and children.

It might be worth, for a few posters, looking up Daniel Sloss talking about how his male friend raped his female friend. And his feelings around that.

Do you think a woman would have survived that long on an island just with men on it?

The question, as I read it, isn’t who do you want to be attacked by, do you want to spend time with an angry/defensive bear etc- it is literally as written, would you rather be alone in a forest with a man or a bear?

For me that’s obviously a bear- I can do things to prevent an attack from a bear (per actions in the OP etc), I have no such luxury with the man.

Surely the point of the question is that we really shouldn't have to have this debate in the first place?

Those men sound terrifying.

I would definitely choose a man.

The paranoia on here is disproportionate

Still a man ...a bear will kill her. A man will help her find her way out

I've hiked in the Rockies where there are bears. If you come across a bear, you have surprised and startled it. All the stories I heard of people being attacked in the Rockies were of people who have surprised bears with their appearance. I blew a whistle every couple of minutes when I hiked to make sure a bear was not surprised by my appearance. Therefore I think if I met a bear in the woods, there is a good likelihood it would attack me.

So you have literally been in the woods with more than one bear and not been attacked / assaulted.

I found this interesting, it actually gives the stats for attacks by various bears.

From both what you have said and the article linked, bears tend to avoid humans. Men do not avoid women. If you are alone in the woods and you see a shadow in the distance do you feel safer if it comes towards you or moves away?

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/women-rather-stuck-forest-with-man-bear-3019615

OK, a Teddy Bear then.

^This.

It was interesting that when a man was asked the question, but with reference to his daughter (would he rather she met a man or bear), he really struggled to answer - because he knows all about men.

I do walk in the dark on my own all the time. I don't think that's unusual?

I only know one woman who doesn't

Still a man ...a bear will kill her. A man will help her find her way out

If you genuinely think this is what would happen, then you're incredibly naive.

I'd take that option! Even if it was a very big ted. 😄

You would hope a man would help her find her way out.

Thats not a guarantee at all.

Firstly, if you read my OP you’ll see I was framing the question as ‘if I met a bear…’. Not ‘ if I was in a wood that happened to have a bear in it somewhere’

So you have literally been in the woods with more than one bear and not been attacked / assaulted. And as for this, I have, as stated in the OP, been in a wood many times and met men and never been attacked.

So why would you pick the man?

If you have been in the woods with both and never attacked. Surely, it wouldn’t matter wether you met either.

You feel there’s very low risk of either attacking you.

The point is not that all men are likely to be attackers. But that a significant proportion are likely to, and they look identical to the non threatening ones... so many women are wary of all men.

Its like a seat belt. I don't wear a seater because I think I'm going to crash every time I get in the car. But there is the possibility I will be in a crash, therefore I protect myself.

I don’t believe that you encounter men acting suspiciously this frequently btw, but you are of course free to feel that way. But if you are truly worried then report it instead of complaining about it online

What were posters saying earlier that at least if they were attacked by a bear people would believe them?

He isn't "potentially stalking" me. He is standing within a mile radius of the same spot in a large wood and I have come across him 3 times since February. I now look out for him if I am anywhere near that area and if I see a hint of black I turn around straight away. Because it is not every time I go there I don't want him to ruin the area for me.

Imagine if I reported him and every other man I see acting suspiciously. Police would do nothing. If I then got raped, guess how that information would be used? As you have suggested in your post, it would be me ignoring all of these signs to stop walking who would be blamed not the police for doing nothing or the men for being weird.