Tag Archives: art

nature, Photography

Bison and Muskox

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There are many woodland bison everywhere here in the north. In the spring and summer, they love to loiter on the roads, and drivers have to be very cautious of them, especially at night. Sometimes, a congregation of them will make the traffic wait. There’s no way you want to try to herd or nudge a bison, as they will charge if annoyed.

Try explaining that to your insurance. “I was just stopped on the road, minding my own business, when a bison came out of nowhere and ran full-tilt at my car …” Yup, okay.

So it makes sense to include one of these iconically northern animals …

… along with a snow sculpture of a muskox. Also notoriously bad-tempered, you do not want to upset them.

Photo by Florian Schulz

The snow sculpture looks much more docile, though, especially as it’s missing its horns. Very tempting for children, I think!

Despite that, the artist did quite a good job, don’t you think?

Happy Monday, happy week. 🦬

nature, Reblogs

Snow Sculptures

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We may be getting warmer, but we still have lots of snow. What to do with some of it? Make sculptures, of course!

One of our corvid friends with a snowball in his beak.

This one is of a raven; they are one of the most intelligent and resourceful birds on the planet. They have to be – they survive through -50C (and in more northern areas, even colder) subarctic and Arctic temperatures by huddling together in wind protected areas. Loyal, extremely communicative and collaborative, I don’t see them as the mean, nasty nasties they are often portrayed as in literature and film.

It has been quite overcast for a few days, so these photos are very monochromatic, (I had a lot of visual difficulty because of the lack of contrast) but the subarctic can be like that.

I really admire the talents of the people who come out to make these. They were out on a frozen lake, in the howling wind, in -40C (-40F).

I won’t be sorry to say good-bye to these sculptures when they melt, though!

Have a good week. 🙂