The Editor’s Note: Cherishing and

Plus-plus-plus-sized Katmai National Park and Preserve bruins like 128 – also known by the name “Grazer” – are why the editor considers it a privilege to share the outdoors with wildlife. (NATIONAL PARK SERVICE)

EDITOR’S NOTE

Ilove seeing wildlife in the “wild,” even if that means from the deck of a friend’s rural house.

During a September visit to my native Northern California, I spent a couple days at my good buddy Norv’s family’s second home in Bodega Bay, a tiny coastal hamlet a couple hours north of San Francisco. It’s most famous for being the filming location for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic ornithological scare-fest flick, The Birds.

Norv’s house is located in a quiet, hilly subdivision just across Highway 1, and it’s a virtual animal kingdom for critters big and small, adorable, furry or fanged. In the time I was there, I spotted three deer staring back at me from the neighbor’s front yard before dashing away; I watched a bobcat stealthily walk across the same area on what I presumed to be an early-morning food run; from Norv’s ocean-view front porch over cocktails we spied majestic hawks in a flyover with the late-afternoon wind howling; and we even interrupted wild turkeys scampering across the road while taking our dogs to a nearby beach.

The point is this: Sharing space with wildlife is a perk we all should embrace and not take for granted in the outdoors. Our story on Katmai National Park and Preserve’s popular Fat Bear Week contest (page 26) reinforces Alaska grizzlies’ rock star status for visitors to the park.

Of course, running into a bruin in the wild can be dangerous, especially when it’s a mama bear and her cubs. I thought about that when in early October a solo trail runner near Provo, Utah, kept it together long enough to video a protective mountain lion after the man stumbled onto its brood. The big cat tracked and followed him for over six minutes as he backed up the trail.

Finally, the shouts and pleas chased away the cougar. But that’s part of the deal when we make the choice to enter the lair of the bear and the lion when we fish, hunt, hike and camp.

During my Bodega Bay visit, Norv and I took a couple latenight country walks with our dogs to get a few steps in after big dinners. While checking out a plethora of stars in the clear skies above, he tried to freak me out a bit by telling stories of neighbors’ encounters with coyotes and mountain lions. Nothing like being spooked a bit in complete darkness clutching your fur baby’s leash!

And I can say that I’m sure it would be equal parts terrifying and exhilarating to get up close to one of Katmai’s famous fat bears. Celebrity sightings like that always intimidate me. -Chris Cocoles