"mountain boomer"

[Douglas G. Wilson]

To add to the morass ....

There are five creatures conventionally called "boomer": (1) red (pine)
squirrel, (2) mountain beaver, (3) giant kangaroo, (4) collared lizard, (5)
hillbilly (and a sixth, the bittern, if one grants a little leeway). In
favor of the default etymology for some of these, the mountain beaver is
said to make a booming sound, while the red squirrel is said to emit a
variety of rattles, buzzes, etc. "Boomer" = "squirrel" might derive from
the Scots "bummer" = "something which hums/buzzes" [in OED].

Another possibility, "boomer" from an Amerind language's word for the
squirrel, has been suggested. If I knew an Amerind specialist, I might ask
them about this. (^_^)

For the lizard, one might consider the Oklahoma sense of "boomer" = "one
who participates in a land rush" or so. This lizard is known for running
around on its hind legs.

One conventional explanation for the kangaroo word (given by the Macquarie
dictionary) is "boomer" = "big or excellent one" (English dialectal [in
EDD], apparently represented in Scots as "bummer") -- something like
"humdinger", I guess.

Somebody already mentioned "boom" = "pole"/"spar"/"beam"/"collection of
floating logs"/etc. This is supposedly from Dutch "boom" = "tree", cognate
with German "Baum". There are two corresponding verbs in German, "baumen" =
"climb a tree"/"go into a tree" and "sich bäumen" = "rear up"/"stand on the
hind feet". Thus it is possible to assume a word like "boomer" in some
German/Dutch dialect meaning "one which goes up a tree" or "one which
stands on its hind feet" -- either of which might apply to certain of the
animals in question. Possibly there's even something like "baumer"/"boomer"
= "woodsman", but this is purely my wild speculation.

Another word supposedly derived from Dutch "boom" is "bumpkin", similar in
sense to "boomer" = "hillbilly". Any relation?

One might also consider "bummer" = "looter"/"forager", from the time of the
Civil War [in OED].

I see both "boomer" and "forester" for "giant kangaroo" in an 1852 article
at MoA (Cornell).

-- Doug Wilson