That reminds me of a visit to Rocky Mt. National Park in Colorado (my usual vacation destination). I was photographing a large herd of elk which was gradually moving to surround me. I kept backing off and they kept coming closer, grazing and utterly unperturbed.
I was a lot more nervous than they seemed to be, knowing about maintaining a "safe" distance. I was so close that I could hear the elk calves making this cat-like mewing noise, something I never knew that they did. I saw an elk cow nearly stomp a coyote that was trying for her calf. I was simply mesmerized by the gift of being that close to these beautiful animals. Then I saw the herd bull. He was enormous, with a rack of antlers the size of an armchair. He was also grazing only about 30' from me, very peacefully. And I wanted to keep it that way. I kept backing slowly away from the elk so as not to spook them. Then I saw some animal-ignorant tourists coming right up to the elk like they were some sort of petting zoo animals. I was aghast, and envisioned that herd bull running someone right through with his magnificent antlers. I told them in your basic sotto voce growl, "Get away from those animals. Do you want to DIE? Get back!!" They didn't fear the elk, but they sure took ME seriously. A couple of minutes later, a ranger pulled up and told me, "Thank you. You may have prevented a tragedy."
Those dummies are NOT invited to come on my next student field trip!
Here is my own bear picture. I was hiking through Roxborough State Park in CO with my friend Laura when we noticed a couple of people paying attention to a small group of bushes. We went to check it out. It was a BEAR!! A sub-adult black bear, not just a cub. It was fortunately very busy eating some kind of berries in the bushes and paying no attention to us. I snapped a hasty picture (below) and told everyone that bears could run about 30 mph, could catch right up to you and maul you. I told them to clear way back, which they did. Otherwise, I did not want to be in a situation where I was unarmed, un-bear-sprayed, with nothing between me and a bear.
“...very busy eating some kind of berries in the bushes...”
A great pic of how wildlife is often encountered. We often see them fleetingly, barely through the thicket, or with poor light for photography.
Great couple of stories. I still have trouble grasping the fact people don’t give credence to, or even know, that wild animals will protect themselves and their own. Even non-threatening behavior can provoke an attack if the animal “feels” threatened by your presence.