This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
✶Austria


Wild Ones I n the snowy Alps Mountains, the men


rise in the pre-dawn blackness. Days earlier, they’d waded through deep snow and risked avalanches to gather lichens. Now, they pull on shaggy suits made of the lichens. Next, they cover their faces with wicked,


wooden masks. Each mask has a long, hooked nose, warts, and eyebrows as big and bristly as brushes. Finally, each man picks up a big, gnarled stick. It’s time. T e Wild Ones are on the march. T e Wild Ones may look scary, but they’re


a good sign. Seeing them means it’s carnival time. It’s also time to chase away winter and welcome spring. T is tradition may be thousands of years


old. It dates back to a time here when human survival depended on the seasons changing.


22 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER If spring didn’t come, these people were


doomed. T ey couldn’t grow or find enough food to survive. So they came up with rituals they believed would chase away winter and make sure spring came on time. Oſt en, these rituals centered on a bear—or


someone dressed up as a bear. T at’s because in spring, bears awake from hibernation. So these animals became a powerful symbol of the changing seasons. According to legend, the Wild Ones are


part bear. T ey’re the sons of bears, with human mothers. It’s unclear what their role was in past carnivals. Today, the Wild Ones march into town. T ey patrol the streets and keep the peace. From time to time, they even nibble lichen from their suits. No one knows why. It’s just part of the tradition.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24