The recent thread involving wolves brings up the old nightmare of something out there, quietly tipy toeing behind us on the trail or staring from just beyond the fire with unblinking yellow eyes. It's an old part of our consciousness, one that even extends itself to fellow humans who don't happen to dress in Saville Road suits or blanche at the shaman's threat of LAWSUIT. There are two schools of response; the Marlin guide gun ( a dedicated close range defense rifle for bears) which excludes any other scenario besides BLAM! BLAM! take my photo for OUTDOORS Magazine, and the late Timothy Treadwell's naive hubris that Ursus horriblus is really Winnie the Pooh with bad P.R. Learning about potentially dangerous animals is reasonable. Placing them in context with our common world wise. I must wonder if the recently deceased biker in Arizona worried about rattlesnakes while dying of thirst?