There is an analogy here to the updated instructions in combatting bears.

The official word used to be to play dead. Drop to the ground, they said, curl into a fetal position, clasp your hands behind your neck and hold still.

That advice still holds for the brown (grizzly) bear. A brown, they say, usually just wants to punish you and incapacitate you. The biggest risk, they say, is in stirring before the bear has actually left the vicinity. The brown tends to withdraw and just watch you to make sure that you are no longer a threat.

The advice on black bears has changed dramatically. The official word now is to fight back- punch it, aim for its eyes, grab a branch or a hammer or anything else that comes to hand - make yourself as 'large' as you can, make as much noise as you can, anything to unsettle it and help it rethink its plans.

If it has you down, the black bear, they say, may decide that you are edible.