Not so wild anymore

Urban sprawl, hunting and resource extraction have changed the behavioral patterns of California’s wildlife, such as deer, bears, ducks and bass, due in part to human activity.

Deer have become suburbanized, often spending their entire lives within a five- or six-mile radius and gravitating to parks, golf courses and large private yards. Bears go where the mooching is easy—typically drive-in campgrounds and summer cabins where people leave pet food, chicken feed or garbage outside, according to SFGate.com.

Ducks have become largely nocturnal in the Sacramento Valley, feeding at night and returning to protected no-hunting zones to avoid shooting time. And striped bass (which once spawned in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta) have moved 125 miles north, near Colusa, to avoid the massive pumps diverting water south.