Varmints (Re: Does anyone know these?...)

[Leonel Hermida]

Hi,

With so vivid a description, I am almost disappointed to have never
heard about memalooses before. As there is much 'vagueness' in
the list below, it is perhaps not impossible this remarkable 'fellow'
figures somewhere there under another designation:

calxoch. mouse
chachahuatl. dormouse
cuauhquimichin. forest mouse.
huezacotl. kangaroo rat.
mo:tohtli. chipmunk (a ground-squirrel)
motoyahuitl. brown chipmunk.
tepanchichi. mouse
tepanmamal. mouse
tepapa.  kind of mouse
tetzopan. small field mouse
tlalquimichin. field mouse.
tlaltechalotl. ground squirrel.
tozan (1). mole, rat  (may be a specific animal, neither a mole nor a rat?)
tozan (2). gopher (1 Amer. burrowing rodent. 2 N.Amer. ground-squirrel of
genus Citellus)

BTW I would also welcome the Nahuatl name for 'beaver'.
And that's all for the moment (don't include either 'true squirrels' or
'rabbits'; nor 'quimichme'/'quiquimichtin')

Regards,
Leonel


-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Montchalin <mmontcha at OregonVOS.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 1:36 AM
Subject: Varmints (Re: Does anyone know these?...)


>On Thu, 25 Nov 1999, R. Joe Campbell wrote:
>
>| tepanchichi
>|   mouse
>|
>| tepanmamal
>|   mouse
>|
>| calxoch
>|   mouse
>
>What are the differences between these animals?  Does any one of them come
>close to the memaloose found in the Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon?
>Memalooses are bigger than rats, about a foot to a yard in height, sit
>back on their haunches, and have opposable thumbs just like monkeys or
>possums do.  They like to cry out 'mee!' and this might be why they are
>called me[e]malooses.  They are capable of getting into your backpacks and
>would just as soon steal cookies and fruit juice from you if you don't
>keep them at bay by throwing rocks at them.  I think they are either
>omnivorous or vegetarian, and tend to live in troops of about a dozen or
>more at once, mostly making their homes in rockpiles in the high cascades.
>They are probably related to the white prairie dog of southeastern Oregon,
>but instead of living in the plains like to live in higher elevations.
>