and after winter folweth grene may.
-geoffrey chaucer
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image credit: zazzle.com
this guy….. acting all hangry and ready for spring
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – On March 7, a Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist on a radio telemetry flight observed the first grizzly bear of 2023 to emerge from hibernation. The adult bear, estimated at 300-350 pounds, was seen near the remains of a bison carcass in Pelican Valley, in the central-eastern part of the park. Male grizzlies come out of hibernation in early March. Females with cubs emerge in April and early May. When bears emerge from hibernation, they look for food and often feed on elk and bison that died over the winter. Sometimes, bears will react aggressively toward people when feeding on carcasses. All of Yellowstone National Park is bear country.
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“most animals show themselves sparingly. the grizzly bear is six to eight hundred pounds of smugness.
it has no need to hide. if it were a person, it would laugh loudly in quiet restaurants,
boastfully wear the wrong clothes for special occasions, and probably play hockey.”
-craig childs, the animal dialogues: uncommon encounters in the wild
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credits: national park service, jim peaco, grizzly bear on swan creek flat – photo
“i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.
a magical thing.
and sweet to remember.
we are nearer to spring than we were in september.
i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.”
-oliver herford
yes it was yesterday, i think they may have over-celebrated and lost count.
the fairy dance
the soft stars are shining,
the moon is alight;
the folk of the forest
are dancing tonight:
o swift and gay
is the song that they sing:
they float and sway
as they dance in a ring.
o seek not to find them,
the wee folk so fair;
they’re shy as the swallow
and swift as the air:
if you come, they are gone
like a snowflake in may:
like a breath, like a sigh,
they vanish away.
-katherine davis (1892-1980)
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image source: peter gray’s vintage art and postcards