#metso

- Baby's first oc-tober attempt! I'm trying to see how low-effort must I go to make this even happen, more about that in here. GUys I'm so nervous about this my hands are shaking and my smart watch keeps alerting me of abnormally high heart rate for the last uh four hours now?

Metso (Tetrao urogallus) ♂, Western capercaillie by pohjoma https://flic.kr/p/2ooUDm6

capercaillie thing

As the name already suggests the wood grouse was strongly associated the forest, so much in fact that it was basically synonymous with the forest. The Finnish name, metso, is almost the same as the Finnish word for forest, metsä. The wood grouse doesn't migrate and it rarely leaves the forest and so seeing a wood grouse near human settlements was considered an ill omen. The wood grouse was a herald of war, famine and death. The wood grouse is a very powerful, magical bird, and it was said to be the king of the forest and all animals dwelling in it (despite the bear, moose and crane also being called kings of the forest/other animals). Shamans would often take the form of a wood grouse. According to some beliefs, if you shot a wood grouse with a silver bullet what falls down would not be a bird but a witch. However, despite all the ill omens and witchcraft, one shouldn't shoot a wood grouse or try to drive it away as it will always backfire and shooting a wood grouse will make the shooter go blind.

© Vesa Korhonen

+0912 712 772