aww :(((((

well they can't exactly put the claws away. What do you want them to buy jackets and just shove their front paws in their pockets whenever we come around?

They could avoid waving them around.

they're bears.it's their way of saying 'back off.' they can't just say 'leave me alone."

Doesn't matter, it's still scary. They're scary, we're scary, it's equal. Ergo, mutual combat.

yes but we have the advantage of a) superior intelligence, and b) weaponry. Those claws won't do much good next to a gun, which as I understand it, the US currently has (I'm in the UK-no bears, no guns). The animal is relying on instinct, it senses a threat and of course it's the fight or flight reaction- it's not thinking "oh I don't want to scare them" it's thinking, "If I look big enough they'll back off and leave me alone". They don't understand that we see it as an attack when it's normally a defence, standing on two legs is a sort of warning in most cases.

It's still mutual combat. Obviously we have the advantage, but still.