EXCERPT FROM THE INTRODUCTION Psssst. Join us here at the campfire, we''re telling wild stories about wild animals, seeking deeper ecological truths. Peruse this compilation of natural-history tales about the Bay Area''s most interesting and unusual fauna, a treasure map of sorts. It details where, when, and how to encounter our local predators, familiar critters, charismatic megafauna, feathered dinosaurs, sea creatures, creepy-crawlies, and phantoms. Bring it when you ramble and meander: it will guide you through several score wildlife viewing adventures, offering a chance to commune with more than one hundred native creatures. This book is a peek into the lives of the animal inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay bioregion, and I hope it fosters a better understanding and appreciation of them. I trust that, equally, you will be alarmed about the rapid loss of our natural riches and find motivation to get involved in local conservation. This book is inspiration to get out and explore, whatever your knowledge of Bay Area nature, whether you''re a resident or a visitor.

Are you among the urban eco-curious? A proto-druid seeking communion with animist spirituality? A nature newb who picked up binoculars or a bird guidebook for the first time during the pandemic? If you''re already a birder, nature photographer, conservationist, wildlife advocate, visitor of our parks, protector of open spaces, outdoor adventurer, or environmental educator, you likely have cultivated an abiding and passionate interest in wildlife and natural history. This volume is also for you--an antidote to all those dry nature guides and scholarly ecology papers. But why watch animals in the first place? Gawking at wildlife has some obvious benefits, offering you relaxation, better mental health, outdoor exercise, enhanced powers of perception, and nature education. It''s one of the ways to grow your local roots and sink into the place on this earth where you currently find yourself. Birds and wildlife can become feathered and furred catalysts to learning about botany, ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and evolutionary relationships, even the history of colonialism. Isn''t that the point of all this? To understand why we''re here and how we fit in? Meeting your nonhuman neighbors is essential for connectedness, giving you a more holistic sense of place and belonging. The Berkeley-born novelist, poet, and utopian storyteller Ursula K. Le Guin wrote, "Skill in living, awareness of belonging to the world, delight in being part of the world, always tends to involve knowing our kinship as animals with animals.

" [.] We were all certainly born into a world that is more biologically impoverished, less diverse, and more ecologically imperiled than that of our forebearers. How many of us will get to see throngs of grizzly bears along the shores of the Bay, wolves taking down elk, or the flocks of condors that Bay Area denizens witnessed just a few human lifetimes ago? You and I will never have a chance to see a Xerces blue butterfly flit over San Francisco sand dunes. But wolves are now reinhabiting California and condors are checking out Contra Costa real estate--and stay tuned on grizzlies. "Rational" thought strives to keep us apart from the animals. In the seventeenth century, René Descartes taught that animals do not have souls and are purely physical machines. In modern, supposedly "objective," biological sciences it is still a sin to anthropomorphize one''s study subjects. But we are in a new era, or rather the beginnings of a return to an older indigenous sensibility when people were connected with all the life around them.

We are now learning much more about animal ecology, and understanding that animals feel, emote, and have their own agency and exist for their own purposes. I''m here to tell you it''s okay to love them. We can embrace science and compassion. Here amid the ecological destruction of the Anthropocene, it is time for us to finally admit that we ourselves are animals, and to reconnect with nature. To that end, our philosopher friend Albrecht urged humanity to forge a new era, the Symbiocene, characterized by harmonious interactions between humans and other living beings. Le Guin again: "One way to stop seeing trees, or river, or hills only as "natural resources," is to class them as fellow beings--kinfolk." In service of a more ecologically literate and hopeful future, I''m honored and grateful that California-centric artist, poet, and eco-philosopher Obi Kaufmann has beautifully illustrated this book, to help introduce you to a suite of Bay Area species. Obi''s interpretive paintings and unconventional maps filter his scientific knowledge, quest for connectivity, and love of place through a symbiotic prism that reveals our relationships to every living (and nonliving) thing.

Obi observes that "people protect what they love and love what they know. Presenting what''s actually out there to protect is a key pillar of my work." I''ve spent my entire life falling in love with the natural world of the Bay Area and most of my adult life fighting to protect it. I''ve been fortunate to pursue my passion for wildlife as a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, where I have worked for the past quarter century. The Center''s support has made publishing this book possible. This nonprofit is simply the most effective, hard-hitting, dedicated, focused, and talented group of earth defenders, eco-attorneys, animal-loving policy wonks, and wildlife advocates humanity has ever assembled. Its work is highlighted throughout this book because the organization''s legal, publicity, and advocacy campaigns have been essential to almost every facet of protection that exists for all Bay Area endangered species. This guidebook confesses my infatuation with the Bay Area, and I hope it inspires you to reconnoiter the many natural realms around the Bay.

Consider this your introduction to some of the Bay Area''s more charismatic animal ambassadors. The region''s wild animals, whose endlessly fascinating behaviors and traits (and dare I say personalities) delight us all, need space to move, groove, and thrive; we owe it to our animal relations to protect the local parks, open spaces, and habitats that they, and ultimately we, depend upon. So get out there and explore! Stalk the chocolate tarantula, greet the grunion, conduct a stakeout for elusive marsh chickens. Enjoy a pint-sized predator safari, raise a shot glass in a toast to the tequila bats, hoot with the owls at night, and soar with the eagles at dawn. Run naked with the tule elk, play Twister with the rattlesnakes. Wait, scratch those last two. Please do not disturb or harass wildlife and do respect the wildness of wild animals. Don''t do anything foolhardy enough to get yourself nominated for a Darwin Award.

Enjoy your Bay Area wildlife adventures, and I look forward to seeing you at the next campfire to share what we''ve learned.