NOCTURNAL CREATURE FEATURE: WAYSTATION'S NIGHT TOURS PUT BEASTS IN DIFFERENT LIGHT.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Tempted by a pair of teddy bear-like grizzly cubs, a curious woman just couldn't resist the temptation to stick her fingers through the fence.

Fortunately for her fingers, an alert tour guide promptly stopped her from petting the shaggy bears, reminding the group that these animals appear cuddly, but they are wild animals - dangerous animals.

``Just count your fingers before you leave,'' tour guide Rosa Bertozzi tells a group of about a dozen people in the group.

This near-brush with bears was just part of the fun offered by a nighttime safari at the Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest. This series of nocturnal jaunts is the first of its kind for the nonprofit center, which treats and cares for abandoned, injured and abused exotic wildlife.

The monthly evening tours began in mid-June and run through October. There are no spaces available for the Sept. 20 tour, but there are for the one Oct. 18.

The waystation, located on 160 acres off Little Tujunga Road, provides shelter, medical treatment and placement services for more than 4,000 animals annually.

``This is just an awesome experience. Being here at night is ten times more amazing. I feel I'm getting more of the personalities of the animals and their sounds. It's like `Jurassic Park,' '' said Michelle Moses, 29, who traveled from Santa Monica recently to treat her father to the adventure.

Nighttime safari visitors can expect to see such animals as bears, tigers, a pride of lions and their cubs, cougars, skunks, raccoons and timber wolves.

The animals view it as a break, too.

``They're happy to see you. They are looking at you for their entertainment, too. They check you out just as well. They love it,'' said Martine Colette, the waystation's founder and director.

Tour guides lead the adventure seekers and provide facts about the animals, and not just general information about their species.

Take for instance one lion picked up in a men's restroom at a gas station, or the zebras found trotting along San Fernando Road. Nobody claimed them, Bertozzi said, so they wound up here.

And then there's a particularly boisterous goose, guarding his territory at the waystation by using his beak to tap on the shoes of passers-by.

``Hey, where are we going?'' Dave Moses asked the honking goose as the bird stood up straight, bravely following the man through his territory. ``I thought he was my buddy there for awhile.''

Next door stands Conan the lion, who had his teeth removed to perform in circuses. And then there is Casper the cougar, delivered by a man who pulled up to the waystation and dropped the big cat off without an explanation, Bertozzi said.

The full moon, along with strands of tiny white lights in surrounding trees, gives the group just enough light to observe the animals and their behaviors up close.

Sherman Oaks resident Kris Brown wished she had brought along a tape recorder to capture the abundance of sounds - crickets chirping and peacocks letting out their unforgettable cries.

``I thought it was terrific, especially the nocturnal sounds, the wolves, the howling,'' said Brown.

Many of the animals on the tour are nocturnal, making them more active at night, Colette said.

The $35 fee for the tour goes toward the waystation's operating costs.

The evening starts with an entertaining dinner and dessert in a camplike setting and a handler introducing animals to visitors.

The more than 100 guests are then divided into small groups with several tour guides.

Two tours are offered: a sunset safari at 6:30 p.m., and a starlight safari at 7:30 p.m. Good walking shoes are recommended, as tour routes are unpaved.

To book reservations or for further information about the safari tours, call [phone].

The Wildlife Waystation is located at 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Road, five miles up Little Tujunga, off the Foothill Freeway at the Osborne Street off-ramp in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--2) Members of a sunset safari tour, right, at the Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest check out a pair of lions. Above, John Henry, left, and Neil England show a snake to the crowd.

(3) John Henry holds up Maggie, a monitor lizard, during a once a month tour through the center.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News