"mountain boomer"

[A. Maberry]

On Thu, 26 Apr 2001, Gregory {Greg} Downing wrote:

> But note that she has suggested the possibility that the name "mountain
> boomer," when used of a type of beaver in the Pacific Northwest, may have
> something to do with the act of making booms (i.e., structures made of
> floating logs), whereas the etymology in DARE appears to assert that


The name "mountain beaver" is a misnomer. They are not beavers but a type
of borrowing rodent (Aplodontia rufa). They don't necessarily live near
water, nor do they build anything from logs like true beavers. They look
sort of like gophers but apparently have their own taxonomic line. See:

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/aplodontia/a._rufa$media.html

And, from the above site:

"Mountain beavers are not very social animals. Rarely do they go farther
than a few meters from their burrows. Their home ranges overlap and each
beaver defends its nest site. The sight and the hearing of the mountain
beaver are very poor but their senses of smell and touch are well
developed. Mountain beavers vocalize in the form of whistles and booming
sounds. They also squeal while fighting and make a grinding noise with
their teeth (Carraway, 1993)."

So, "mountain boomer" might be a reasonable characterization of them, but
I have never heard them called anything but mountain beavers.

FWIW, they used to be considered a pest in Oregon when I was a kid because
they would eat young plant shoots including fruit trees. As I recall there
was a bounty of 25 cents for every carcass you hauled into Oregon City.
I personally have never heard one make any noise at all, they're mostly
nocturnal and are not commonly seen.
I suspect that most everyone who has walked around the woods in the
Pacific Northwest has stepped into a fair number of mountain beaver holes.

Allen
maberry at u.washington.edu