Most black bears are not at all interested in getting close to people. They are not a threat, and will go out of their way avoid you long before you are even aware of their presence. If you should encounter a black bear in the forest, the bear is probably going to run away from you. Still, bears pose a potential threat, and some of them are dangerous. The dangerous ones are rare, and are usually ones that have been provoked or baited. Bears that eat people are rarer still. There is not much to fear from black bears when you enter the wilderness in bear country. Black bears have attacked and even killed people, but a dog is far more likely to attack you than a black bear in the wild.