A SPECIAL REPORT: WILDLIFE

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Sometimes, the critters win one. . . . Park ranger Spencer Gilbert was driving at night in the hills above Yorba Linda when his headlights fell on a big hairy creature. The fierce, 3-foot-tall badger stood up on its hind legs, growled, and marched toward him like a grizzly. “I couldn’t believe it. It started attacking my truck,” said Gilbert, who quickly rolled up the window. “I think it realized it had won because it actually strutted into the bushes.”