1905 Snapshot

This is an interesting photo for a variety of reasons:  first, it’s a snapshot from 1905 California; second, of course, is the bear; third, what is in the bottle that the man is offering to the bear?  Looks like beans or something similar.  From the height of the hands, the bear must be a young cub, but I still would not want to get too close because the mother was probably nearby.