Animal Lore: Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee on a suet feeder.

The Black-capped Chickadee is a small song bird native to North America, and is only one of a few varieties of Chickadees. They're known for their distinctive 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee' call, which is the source of their name. That particular call is their alarm call, the greater the threat, the more dees will be included on the end of their call. It serves as a warning to other Chickadees in the area, and some other birds have also been known realize that call being associated with danger.

In addition to their chick-a-dee call, they are known to sing quite a few calls, often fairly complex in their nature. Another of their more distinctive calls is their 'fee-bee' call. If you've got Chickadees in your area, there's a good chance you've heard this call before.

Chickadee taking some suet.

Chickadees eat a variety of foods. In the warmer months, the bulk of their diet is made up of insects, although they also eat berries and seeds. In the colder months their diet is a bit more limited, but they still look for seeds and other such foods. Chickadees have occasionally been seen eating fat fro carcases in colder months, and appreciate suet feeders. Chickadees have been known to store food in tons of different locations, and they can remember where food is hidden for up to a month. There is also some indication that they can even remember the quality and quantity of food in a particular cache, if it is one that had been recently made.

Chickadees are year round birds, although they may occasionally go north or south with the weather within a limited range. Chickadees have the ability to lower their body temperate in cold weather, which allows them to preserve energy.

Many Chickadees are bold little birds, and if you're patient it is possible to get one to feed on seed right from your hands. They're known to be curious, and are not as fearful around humans as some other birds.

Because of their traits, Chickadees can be symbolic of bravery, curiosity, intelligence, resourcefulness, and perseverance. Chickadees can warn one of coming danger, and are said to be able to discern the true nature of an individual and their intent.

Animal Lore: Bears

Various types of bears are known in many parts of the world. Here in New Hampshire we've got black bears, and it's not uncommon to spot them in the more rural areas now and again. Every couple years one will wander into our neighborhood, pulling down bird feeders and getting into trash cans for a day or two, before wandering back into the woods when it realizes that no more food is being left around. Up north camping areas have very strict rules about food and trash. While, all in all, black bears are not one of the more aggressive bears, we are taught to respect them and to give them plenty of room.

Bears have played an important role in many different cultures through history - more than I could list here. Some examples include the legendary creation of Korea, where it was the son of a bear turned woman who founded the first Korean kingdom. Bears also play a significant role in the mythology of the Ainu people. They consider bears to be mostly benevolent creatures, and their meat and fur are important staples.

Berserkers, Norse warriors, were often said to wear shirts formed from bear pelts into battle (berkserker is derived from the Old Norse for bear shirt), and were known for fighting in a fierce trance-like fury.

In the folklore of some Native American tribes, bears became associated with dreams because of their winter dormancy.

Bears were one of the sacred animals of the Greek Artemis. The cult of Artemis at Brauron was especially linked with bears. It is said that a gentle she-bear was known to visit Artemis' sanctuary at Brauron. One of the girls at the sanctuary provoked it, and was injured because of it. The girl's brothers killed the bear because of this, and Artemis punished the people with a plague. An oracle told the people that the plague could only be removed if young girls played the role of the bear in the rites preformed at Brauron.

It is one of Artemis' nymphs, Kallisto, who eventually became the constellation Ursa Major (of which the Big Dipper, one of the more widely known constellations, is a part of). Kallisto's son, Arcas, became Ursa Minor.

Generally speaking, bears hold a bit of a dual symbolism. Gentle and benevolent, yet strong and fierce. Associated both with the sun and moon. They are seen as powerful protectors, symbols of bravery, and they are linked with sovereignty, acceptance of self, and, of course, motherhood. Watching bears fish and forage can teach us a little about patience and perseverance.

Bears go into the earth in the winter for a dormant period, linking them with death - and as they emerge in the spring, resurrection and new life. Especially the mother bears, who often give birth during these winter months, and emerge in the spring with their new cubs.

Their descent into the earth during the winter months also links them to the shamanic underworld, the dream world, and they are powerful symbols of wisdom, ancestral knowledge, and healing knowledge because of this. Their winter dormancy can also be seen as a metaphor for going into the self and communing with the sub-conscious, with connecting with our intuition and instinct.

Animal Lore: Wooly Bear Caterpillars

The cold is really starting to set in here, which of course comes as no surprise given the date on the calendar. The late nights and early mornings are crisp and frosty. Yesterday it was snowing a bit, and today you can feel how the ground is frozen beneath your feet. It can be seen in the animals as well, as squirrels rush to stockpile as much as they can, and the once bright yellow goldfinches are now a dusty yellow-brown.

Still, there's one little animal you might miss if you're not paying attention - the Wooly Bear caterpillar, which is a pretty amazing creature.

A Wooly Bear caterpillar, with it's black end segments and brown band.

Wooly Bears are a fairly solitary in nature, and finding one walking about is quite common in the fall, and around now most of them are seeking out a good place to hunker down for the winter. Usually they'll find a nice spot under a large rock, in wood piles, under leaves or roots - that sort of place. Here's the thing, though... they're not seeking out a place to build a cocoon, and they don't hibernate. A Wooly Bear caterpillar will literally freeze solid for the winter, and thaw out in the spring. Because of this, the Wooly Bear has strong ties to the cycle of death and rebirth. Once thawed, they spend a bit of time eating greens, then build a cocoon. A Wooly Bear caterpillar will transform into an Isabella Tiger moth, and once a moth will only live for a few days - long enough for them to hopefully find a mate. So, like many other caterpillars, they have strong transformation symbolism.

Wooly Bears have a reputation for being able to forecast the severity of the coming winter. They're fuzzy black caterpillars with a brown band around their middle. If this band is small, it's said the coming winter will be harsh. If the brown band is long, it will be a mild winter. Another bit of folklore seems to contradict this a bit - each of the 13 segments of the caterpillar represents one of the 13 weeks of winter, with the brown segments showing colder weeks.

A Wooly Bear missing it's black end band?

While a fun bit of folklore, it's questionable how accurate this method of prediction is.  Some scientists who study the Wooly Bear believe the brown band to be more an indicator of age, so in a way it actually shows how harsh the winter of the previous year was - the later start they got in the spring, the worse the winter was. Another method of prediction just says that the fatter and fuzzier the Wooly Bears are, the worse the winter will be.

Wooly Bears are safe to handle. Some say their bristles may be irritating to sensitive skin, but as someone who has sensitive skin it's never been a problem for me. If you pick one up and it does bother your skin, washing your hands with soap and water will likely fix any issues. The bristles act as a deterrent to many predators, who find them unpleasant to eat. If you do pick up a Wooly Bear, or otherwise disturb it, chances are it will curl up into a tight little ball and attempt to play dead.

In the warmer months a Wooly Bear will eat a variety of greens, including clover, maple, oak, and birch leaves, dandelions, and other sorts of grasses and weeds.

Understanding Animal Symbolism

Often enough I find myself flipping through a book, or just browsing around websites, and I'll come across those simple lists that say something like 'birds are associated with this, cats with this, dogs with this' all without ever explaining why these animals hold such associations.

Now, sometimes such associations are fairly obvious. For example, a lot of people associate caterpillars/butterflies/moths with transformation, of course because of the physical transformation they all go through.

Other associations might not be so obvious at first glance. When you think of a vulture, what comes to mind? For many they hold associations of death and decay, as they are scavenger birds. However, for the ancient Egyptians, they also noticed that vultures made loving mothers - and so you often see their mother Goddesses, such as Mut and Aset (Isis), wearing beautiful vulture headdresses. For this reason, if you're trying to understand the specific symbolism of a particular culture, you'll have to try to view the animal from their position. How one culture views an animal might be very different from another.

Generally speaking though? If you want to learn the symbolism and associations of an animal, try going right to the source. While individual animals often have their own personalities and quirks, when we look at the whole common themes often stand out. Read up on the animal. Watch it in person if you can, and if not, look around online for videos. What does this animal look like, where does it live, what does it eat, how does it act, what are it's habits, is it social, what are the breeding habits, how does it raise it's young (if it does), what does it sound like? All those sorts of things.

Then consider other sources. Look at folk lore and mythology. After learning about the animal, you might pick up on symbolism that you would otherwise have missed. See how others view the animal, and consider why they have those views.

In many cases, symbolism is very personal. Especially when we look to symbolism in dreams, found in meditations, or symbolism that we may use in ritual. If you come across symbolism that doesn't speak to you, even after giving it a good bit of thought, then don't feel you have to use it. Figure out what makes sense to you, what works for you, and go with it.