Female brown bears with young have a reputation for being more aggressive than solitary bears. Veronica Sahlén and co-authors have just published in PLoS One the results of their investigations on the response of females with cubs versus other bears when approached by humans. The authors conducted 107 experimental approaches of GPS-GSM collared bears. The majority of females with cubs (95%) and single bears (89%) left when approached. They found that none of the bears displayed any aggressive behavior and that females with young were not more aggressively defending  their offspring. Bear-human encounters are rare and in Scandinavia. No fatalities involving females with cubs have occurred in the last 100 years. Making noise and talking, particularly when entering patches of dense vegetation, where bears usually rest during the day, is the best way to avoid encounters.