How The Ptarmigan Changed The Seasons:
How The Ptarmigan Changed The
Seasons
A long time ago the seasons in Alaska
never changed, and it was always summer. The ptarmigan was always
brown. One day the ptarmigan heard a voice in the sky that said it
wanted to talk to ptarmigan. So ptarmigan flew way up into the
sky, past the clouds. There he saw a swan who said, "You are the
bird who will tell the people when the seasons will
change."
"How will I tell the people if I can't even
talk?" replied the ptarmigan.
"The color on your feathers will change", it
said, "When you fly through the clouds, you will turn
white."
"Wow, will I turn like the snow?" asked
ptarmigan.
"You will change colors like the seasons will
change in Alaska But you shall never fly beyond the clouds again,
or the seasons in Alaska will never change, and it will always be
winter."
When ptarmigan flew down to the land, he was
all white. All the animals looked at him with curiosity, but they
all understood why he was white. After they saw him, the bear
hibernated, the fox went into his den and the birds all flew
south. The humans also understood why he was white. They gathered
enough firewood for the winter to come.
From then on, ptarmigan changed colors
according to the seasons. When spring came, their color would turn
brown again. So it is that ever since then, people would look at
the ptarmigan to see what season was coming up next.
Written by
Angela M. Kameroff
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