[dtheodor]

You are basing the statement "fear of wolves is completely irrational" on your experience as an outdoorsperson and 25 years of yellowstone. This is not a good basis. Wolves had lived in huge populations and had been in conflict with humans for thousands of years, with human casualties. Humans were very much afraid of wolves, and rightly so. Physically weak and isolated humans such as children and elderly are prime targets of wolf attacks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_G%C3%A9vaudan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wolf_attacks

[SapporoChris]

Are you arguing for or against? A mythology is not a good argument. A wikipedia entry of about 184 attacks within a decade (apologies if I miscounted) argues for wolves being a non-existant threat. I'm more afraid of riding in a car thank you.

[GoblinSlayer]

Compare with dog attacks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_attack

Significant dog bites affect tens of millions of people globally each year. It is estimated that 2% of the U.S. population, 4.5–4.7 million people, are bitten by dogs each year. Most bites occur in children. Between 2005 and 2018 approximately 471 people were killed by dog bites in the United States, averaging 37 deaths per year.