I have met people like this on hiking trails in eastern New Mexico and and in West Texas. Usually they are deluded urbanites whose perceptions of nature were shaped by Walt Disney movies that portrayed bears and cougars as "cute n cuddly" critters and grossly anthropromorphised them. They are often shocked when you tell them to be careful of mountain lions or black bears; the react as though you had just peed on their tofu and trail mix.
We were preparing for a trip to Boundary Waters and our outfitter told us to prepare for bear. We took our bells and etc. When we arrived he told us there was bear activity in our proposed camping area. One of my scouts asked how to tell if there were bears around and he told them watch for bear droppings, it will contain berries and leaves etc. Wear bells and make noise and take pepper spray in case you run into one. The scout asked about grizzlies, and the guide said, there aren't any grizzlies up here but if there were, you could tell them because their droppings contain little bells and smell like pepper.
Hi Army Air Corps :) We live in the Interior of Alaska. A couple of years ago my husband and I were on our four-wheelers on a trail known for having lots of bear traffic. We had been admiring the fresh tracks of a rather large grizzly when I noticed the change in the tracks. We stopped to check out the situation and I told my hubby that the bear appeared to have become confused, or concerned...because the tracks heading north stopped abruptly and the bear had obviously circled around, back and forth along the trail, before deciding to get off the trail and head down into a gully. We continued on and as we rounded the next bend in the trail we came upon a lone hiker....a man from Outside. We now knew why the bear had veered off. We asked this fella what he was doing and he said he was "bird watching". We told him about the tracks we had just seen, and that he really shouldn't be out hiking alone, unarmed, and he acted like it was no big deal. We wished him well (I said a silent prayer for his ignorant soul) and we continued on our way. To this man's credit I will admit that when I looked back to see whether he was continuing on his trek, I saw that he had turned back and was heading down in a rather lively sprint. LOL