Technically, it’s still hibernation season for the local bear population. That may not last.
It’s getting up into the fifties every day. For a being whose winter habits are regulated by a combination of temperature and food scarcity, the unseasonable late-spring temperatures are bound to create havoc with its internal clock.
In New Mexico, black bears often delay hibernation until November or even December in much of the state, and may emerge as early as March. Up here, though, at altitudes of 7,500 feet and more, they’ve usually vanished for the season by late October, and tend not to return before sometime in April.
But what happens when February temperatures are the same as those of May?
The trees are budding out now across the board; two days ago, I noticed fresh green shoots of grass adorning the ground outside the horses’ water trough. There’ll be many more hard freezes over the next three months, of course, and some of the plants budding out now will find that they cannot bloom on their proper schedule a few months hence as a result. But even with the too-early growth, much of what constitutes bears’ natural diet remains unavailable, and will for weeks yet, if not months.
We have to be concerned. Not so much for the idea that they might awaken and, deprived of food, come searching for sustenance here — that happens every at least a couple of times every autumn, and they’ve never once bothered any of our animals (although one did manage to pry open the trash container once). Last fall, one was clearly in one of the horses’ pens twice in under a week (it left telltale traces behind), and yet the horses themselves remained entirely calm and unconcerned. No, our worry is for their habitat and survival; they do, after all, play a fundamental role in the area’s ecosystem — and, of course, this land was theirs long before the first human set foot on it.
And so, if these out-of-season weather patterns hold, one of these days, I fully expect to walk outside for dawn prayers to find that a young bear has come looking for food.
We’ve discussed Bear here before — several times, actually. For many of our peoples across the continent, Bear holds a significant place in our traditions and belief systems, in our origin stories, in our clan structures, in our spiritual practices and methods of healing. Here in the Southwest, they’ve reached iconic status in Native art, appearing with and without heartlines, manifesting in every conceivable form and genre, from jewelry to fetishes to full-sized sculptural pieces.
Our carvers here are no exception; Bear is popular as a model for their work. The one featured above was one of a collection of four by one of our talented young artisans, and the other three were snapped up before I could upload their photos. All were of orange alabaster atop red cedar bases, all appearing to emerge, wholly formed, from the wintry dawn sky. Only the one shown here remains. From its description in the Fetishes gallery here on the site:
This beautiful little medicine bear is carved in the bold, square style that is the hallmark of Taos Pueblo’s talented Gomez family — in this case, by Jeremy Gomez. Coaxed from orange alabaster in striated tones ranging from apricot to rose with an icy surface effect, he looks cool and warm simultaneously. He carries a medicine bundle of down feathers and a sky-blue turquoise nugget, and rests on an oiled red cedar base. Bear stands 1.25″ long by 1-3/8″ high; base is 2.75″ long by 2/8″ high (dimensions approximate). Another view shown below.
Orange alabaster; feathers; turquoise; red cedar
$50 + shipping, handling, and insurance
He looks, to me, like a young one, a cub. I can picturing him venturing out for the first time, emerging from a den somewhere deep in the peaks to the east, sniffing the cold dawn air as the glow of the sun lights the tips of his coat. But if he is young, he’s also an old soul, wise: After all, he carries with him the bundle — offerings, medicine, blessings.
Even though winter is still here, spring is not all that far away. I think he’s looking for the person with whom he’s supposed to share those blessings.
~ Aji
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