Sewellel / kick-willy / mountain beaver (AHD 4th ed., 2000)

[Mike Cleven]

A muskrat?  Otherwise I've still never heard of these things and I
whacked around the bush a lot when I was a kid....

MC

Dave Robertson wrote:
>
> Klahowya,
>
> Well, after looking at various websites, I can tell you that the sewellel is reputedly the most primitive living rodent on earth; that it's endangered; that it lives only in the Pacific Northwest; and that it's rarely seen by humans.  Below is more interesting linguistic stuff about the animal.  Are any of these terms in the OED, Alan?  --  Dave
>
> >From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth
>                                             Edition.   2000.
>
>                                              sewellel
>
>                      SYLLABICATION:
>                                   se·wel·lel
>                     PRONUNCIATION:
>                                     sE-wel´-El
>
>                             NOUN :
>                                   A small, thick-bodied rodent (Aplodontia rufa) of the
>                                   Pacific coast of North America, having tiny eyes and
>                                   small ears and usually found in communal burrows dug
>                                   in the banks of streams. Also called mountain beaver .
>
>                        ETYMOLOGY:
>                                   Chinook shwalál, robe of sewellel skins.
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