Cold Winter Light - The Endling
Cold Winter Light - The Endling 15X38 Pastel and pencil on paper
Sometime in the near future, an endling bat will die. Maybe here, this will be an endangered Indiana bat, or a Northern Long-eared bat. Regardless, somewhere, soon, it will happen.
Winter is the hardest time for bats. As cold overtakes the land and sky, food becomes scarce. Many species of bats settle in for hibernation in caves. Their metabolism shifts gear, and their body temperature lowers. If they had enough to eat during the warmer months, they begin their hibernation plump, with plenty of stored energy. If not, they have less resilience and their bodies cross the fragile boundary between hibernation and starvation.
Hibernating little brown myotis covered in condensation
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White nose syndrome, a fungal disease, is deadly for bats hibernating in caves. As the disease takes hold on their bodies, bats awake from hibernation more frequently, using up critical energy stores and then dying of exposure. The bats that do escape death often arouse with severe wing damage. First confirmed in New York in 2006, white nose syndrome has spread rapidly in America's caves, with a mortality rate of over 99% in many caves. As of May 2022, white nose syndrome has been found in 38 states. Millions of upon millions of bats have died.
Infected bats experience a cascade of physiologic changes that result in weight loss, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and death. |
Cold Winter Light - The Endling reflects the colors of winter sunlight. As winter persists, the angle of the sun lowers, the air sharpens, and as the sun sets, a relentless, shallow cold closes in on the last warmth left.
Cold Winter Light - The Endling is based on the harmony and melody of Mumford and Sons' song Timshel.
Excerpts from Timshel
by Mumford and Sons
Cold is the water
It freezes your already cold mind
Already cold, cold mind
And death is at your doorstep
And it will steal your innocence
But it will not steal your substance
But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand
Hold your hand
...
But I will tell the night
And whisper, "Lose your sight"
But I can't move the mountains for you
Banner Image Winter Sunset - Creative Commons