Spring 2005 in Death Valley National Park gained venerated status among flower lovers for its incredible wildflower blooms. Those blooms --dubbed the "bloom of the century" -- were trigged by heavy fall and winter rains that dumped nearly 6.5 inches of moisture on Death Valley. So, with 2008 starting out stormy in the West, how will Death Valley's blooms be this spring?

Two recent bobcat attacks at Death Valley National Park likely were spurred by poor food handling at the Furnace Creek Inn, according to park officials.

Two years ago there were concerns that national parks were losing their pull over the traveling public. Today, though, National Park Service officials are bullish about visitation, pointing to gains at a number of parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone.

Think of Death Valley wildlife and you think of....well, rattlesnakes perhaps. But the park has a population of bobcats, as a visitor and Furnace Creek resort employee learned recently when they were attacked by two of the felines.