End of Season - Grizzly

Grizzly bears are very large and impressive fellow North American inhabitants. They are almost as dangerous and unpredictable as mankind. We have always been enemies.

Early man was evenly matched with the bear until he invented weapons. Since then, bears have lost most serious encounters. Grizzlies now kill far fewer people than vice versa, but they still account for a few deaths. With our new powerful, accurate weapons, we could settle the score forever and make them extinct, but it would be a pathetic, impoverished planet if we eliminated all dangers and competition. It is the grizzly's threatening power that makes him an important component of the wilderness.

In this painting, I have shown a big male grizzly in a far from threatening mood. Winter is coming; he is fat, contented and getting sleepy. He has come down to the salmon river to look for a snack before curling up for hibernation. There is one very dead salmon, so dried up it probably doesn't even smell anymore. The mood is cool, lonely and quiet, the bear soon will retire.