In the hills above the Napa Valley roams an amazing variety of wildlife, rarely seen and largely unimagined by those of us who spend our lives on the valley floor.

This black bear was spotted recently late at night up on Atlas Peak Road, surveying this year’s grape harvest. Bear are generally extremely wary of humans, keeping to the far reaches of the back country.

They have keen senses of sight, smell, and hearing — which they use to detect humans and vacate the vicinity long before we would ever notice them.

Bear sightings are more common in areas of the county less populated by us humans, such as Pope Valley and Lake Berryessa.

But as our homes encroach further into the bear’s natural habitat, our paths are more likely to cross.

Another rarely seen animal was spotted by my wife, Julie, and I on a recent bike ride along the backroads east of Napa.

A bobcat had apparently experienced an unfortunate meeting with a car the night before, and its body had been moved off to the side of the road.

It looked to weigh about 25 pounds, nearly twice the size of the average house cat.

Like the bear, bobcat living near urban areas have evolved to become more nocturnal creatures. They hunt for their food at night when there are fewer humans around.

It never ceases to amaze the many different kinds of wild animals we have living in our own back yard.

Changes to 2008 ocean sportfishing regulations

For boat-based anglers, the recreational fishery for rockfish, lingcod, cabezon, greenlings and other groundfish was closed effective Sept. 2 from Point Arena northward to the Oregon border.

The emergency measure was announced by the California Department of Fish and Game on Aug. 19, and was subsequently approved by the Office of Administrative Law.

Shore-based anglers and divers are exempt from the action.

Current DFG catch projections indicate that allowing the boat-based rockfish season to remain open in this area would result in exceeding the low yelloweye rockfish harvest limit and could jeopardize stock rebuilding of this overfished species. 

The closure will remain in effect through the end of calendar year 2008. The new regulations for boat-based anglers will be as follows:

• Northern Management Area (Oregon border south to Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County) — CLOSED: Fishing for rockfish, cabezon, greenlings and other groundfish is closed to boat-based anglers as of Sept. 2, 2008.

• North-Central Management Area North of Point Arena (Cape Mendocino to Point Arena in Mendocino County) — CLOSED: Fishing for rockfish, cabezon, greenlings and other groundfish is closed to boat-based anglers as of Sept. 2, 2008.

• Regulations for all Management Areas south of Point Arena — Seasons will remain as defined in the California Marine Sportfishing Regulations for 2008 (sections 27.35-27.50).

During the closure, anglers may still target and retain halibut, surfperch, albacore, sanddabs and leopard sharks in Humboldt Bay and salmon in the Klamath River. 

For more information about the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the federal agency responsible for setting harvest guidelines for groundfish, visit www.pcouncil.org.

For more information regarding recreational groundfish regulations and to stay informed of in-season regulation changes, call the Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulation Hotline at (831) 649-2801, or visit the DFG Marine Region Web site at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine.

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bdco

cpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.outdoors@sbcglobal.

net.