I mean, I am terrified of wasps, but I recognize they’re a crucial part of the ecosystem and just don’t fuck with them. It’d be a phobia, except I don’t panic, I just gtfo if possible and freeze if I can’t. Wasps (at least here) don’t tend to chase things that react to them by increasing the distance between it and you.

That being said, big wasps in general are indeed jerks who will bite and sting you without mercy. Hornets? Yellowjackets? Tarantula Hawks? Ew. Small ones though? There’s these little guys I’ve seen all the time that I just assumed were small ants, turns out they’re (harmless) wasps that use their size to avoid detection and don’t even sting. Entomology is a lot like filling a Pokédex, the “common wisdom” (the descriptions) does not always match the in-the-field observations of scientific value (the actual creature that might help you).

Admittetly that’s the response I’d want to give too, just keep in mind wild animals tend to get very defensive around humans. I don’t doubt the wolf might take it the wrong way.

That being said, there was a news article about a successful rescue of a wolf stuck in river ice; they mistook it for a dog and brought it to a vet, honestly the wolf was (pun not intended) pretty chill since it knew it would have died there.

And of course, Canis lupus, Canis lupus familiaris. Can’t blame you for recognizing the fact that dogs are a subspecies of wolf. Orf, orf! :3