"The wilderness no longer
threatens as it did in medieval Europe; indeed, it has itself become endangered and in
short supply. We camp and hike 'in nature,' as though emulating the fallen, asocial,
sinful Wild Man of the past, an aspect of ourselves we cannot give up. Instead of fearful,
unnatural beings, the friendly but grotesque forms are now sad and pathetic as we become
wistful and nostalgic." P. Shepard, The Others: How Animals Made Us Human.
Washington, D.C., 1996. p.186.