DCHP-1 Online

whistler

• 1 n. a large marmot, Marmota caligata, of the western mountains.

  See also: hoary marmot  

  • 1703  [We saw] little beasts called Siffleurs or Whistlers. . . .
  • 1819  (1922)  There is a small animal, found only on the Rocky Mountain, denominated, by the Natives, Quis-qui-su, or whistlers, from the noise which they frequently make, and always when surprised, strongly resembling the noise made by a person in whistling.
  • 1866  The Redskin is the whistler's most implacable enemy; he never tires of hunting and trapping the little animal, delighting to use his jacket in the fabrication of rugs.
  • 1953  The whistler's annual life cycle consists of an 8 months' winter sleep interrupted by 4 months of eating and basking in the summer sunshine.
  • 1965  The name Whistler comes from their shrill whistle when frightened.

• 2 n. a small mammal of the genus Ochotona, found in the western mountain region.

  See also: pika  

  • 1939  We found here a peculiar little animal, native to the region, called a whistler or coney.

• 3a n. a wild swan, Olor columbianus, which breeds in northern Canada and Alaska.

  See also: whistling swan  

  • 1853  That [swan] which is best known is the "whistler". . . .
  • 1938  (1950)  Several large companies comprising seventy and eighty swans have gone over. We are sure these were the whistlers because of their distinctly higher, more whistling-like notes.
  • 1964  The flock that winters on the North Thompson east of Kamloops have been identified as whistlers.

• 3b n. See quote.

  • 1959  Lesser Canada Goose [is locally called] whistler (Sask.).

• 4 n. See quote.

  • 1958  It was the kind of slide oldtimers called a "dry" or "Whistler." The kind that often follows a fresh snowfall on crust, gathering force and volume with lightning speed, bending or snapping off stray trees like matchwood.