The only way to avoid clashes with potentially deadly creatures is to stay indoors, and even then you may risk a home invasion of rattlers, fire ants or mosquitoes. Here is a sampling of attacks on humans by California fauna, excluding white sharks, since 2000. -- PAMM HIGGINS
Mountain lion
Big cat kills one mountain biker and critically injures a second in attacks at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Orange County.
Bear
Black bear with two cubs in tow disfigures a man standing outside a cabin near Bridgeport.
Rattlesnake
Reptile bites boy's thumb at a Santa Clarita skateboard park. Another rattler in a toy box strikes a Ramona toddler. Both boys survive.
Jackrabbit
Gray "bunny" lunges at and bites the hand of a man who attempts to befriend what he thinks is a stray house pet during a nature walk in Santa Rosa.
Fire ant
In a rare home invasion, the insects attack two Orange County children playing on the floor. They are treated successfully.
Sea lion
Slippery assailant swimming off El Capitan State Beach chomps on a Santa Barbara lifeguard, who needs 30 stitches.
Jellyfish
Slimy purplish creatures, some as big as a car tire, harass and sting swimmers along Southern California beaches.
Wild turkey
Bird menacingly gobble-gobbles as it chases cars and people in a Sonoma County mobile home park.
Bee
Swarm fatally stings a Banning man when he accidentally disturbs a hive while repairing an irrigation pipe.
Mosquito
Insects carrying the neuro-invasive West Nile virus bite 146 Californians, six of whom have died of the disease.
