Redhawk:
head out to Wyoming and spend some time in the Bridger wilderness where you might actually get a chance to interact with a pack of wolves or a grizzly or two. and don't take any weapons since fear of predators is undue. report back to us.
I haven't been to Wyoming. Back when I was in condition to do these things, Wyoming wasn't a challenge - I always sought out the ruggedest country. On trips out west, that was the Canadian Rockies, the North Cascades, and the Alaska Range. I have seen grizzlies in Alaska and the Yukon, with cubs, and I was without weapons. I already said that. Anyone in fact who travels to the Alaska backcountry in prime country will see grizzlies, and anyone who does it in Denali is forbidden to bring a firearm. On the AK trip (3 weeks in the backcountry on foot - Glacier Bay, Denali, and Wrangell St-Elias), one night, I went to bed early, but two of my companions said they saw an entire pack of wolves run through the little hanging valley we were camped in - I missed it, but they didn't eat us. I've been within 40 feet of moose, black bear (up to 500lb) and those with cubs. In Alberta, I've watched a momma bear with her cub, easily flip over a flattened boulder to look underneath - a boulder that I'd wager weighed 300-500lb... I was watching that from less than 50 feet away.
On my travels in Canada, I can tell you that the attitudes towards predators and animals in general are quite different (on average, of course both countries have much variety in opinion). Up there, people are much more familiar with animals, more comfortable with them, and more savvy about how to interact with them... and yes, they laugh at Americans in this regard.
Redhawk:
talk to the people that are affected directly by wolf reintroduction and maybe you will understand.
In Canada, I spoke with a family that had lost a poodle, and had nearly lost a Lab (they woke up to the sound of something outside, looked out the window in the moonlight, and their dog was running in circles around the house, with a wolf at his heels... they opened the front door and their dog shot in, exhausted, and quickly shut it - he probably only had a minute or two left to live when they opened that door). Canada has a lot more wolves than the US... 100x as many. I also camped there, alone in the Canadian Rockies - in the backcountry, no drive in campgrounds, prime grizzly and wolf country, for 3 weeks, with no weapon, and no tent. Was in the backcountry of Banff, Yoho, Jasper, Mt Robson parks.
Redhawk - you just can't accept that someone who understands animals thinks differently than you. Yes, I know that predators have great strength. Yes, I know that on rare occasions, they will without provocation attack and kill people - that's not news to me though. I knew that back in high school. I also know that even deer have killed people when they feel threatened - not news to me either. I am not "naive" in this regard. But I understand the animals enough to be comfortable in their presence, and I understand the risks, neither minimizing, nor exaggerating them.
I just have a different mindset - I identify quite closely with a wildlife biologist or a naturalist. For instance when
Jeff Troop "proved" how aggressive black bears were by telling his story of an attack after he shot it... I think, "Hmmm, so all you did was start in to killing this critter, and he attacked you? How aggressive he is!
". In his mind, that's an aggressive animal - it attacks you when you shoot it. In my mind, trying to kill something is provocation in the extreme.