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siffleur
[< Cdn F "whistler"]
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:siffler, siffleu (in older use).
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
1an.
a large marmot, Marmota caligata, of the western mountains.
See: hoary marmot
Quotations
1703
[[We saw] little beasts called Siffleurs or Whistlers. . . .]
1824
The Whisle . . . seems to sound a retreat & into their dens [;] nor will they Whisle when near their habitations?from the singular powers of whistling of this animal, the Canadians have given them the appropriate appellation of Siffleu or the Whistlers.
1858
. . . the only animal which we have seen is the siffleur, whose shrill whistle we heard for the first time close to our encampment. . . .
1890
We observed moose and reindeer . . . wolverines, sitfleurs. . . .
1966
. . . there . . . the Sikannis . . . could snare the marmot, the siffleur . . . the little haunter of the barren heights
1bn.
the flesh of the hoary marmot used as food.
Quotations
1808
They gave us a siffleur which is the first fresh meat we tasted since our departure.
1825
He saw very few Indians who barely existed on Fish & Siffler.
1949
They dined on "delicious siffleur" which tasted on the tongue like "very delicate mutton or the fat of sucking pig."
1963
Hector's party also tried dried siffleur and goat meat, but found it was . . . rather highly flavoured. . .
1cn.
the skin of the hoary marmot.
Quotations
1824
The Thecannies with their Siffleu Robes look like as many half drowned Rats crawling amongst the willows copiously bedaubed with mud & mire.
2n. — North, Obs.
a ground squirrel, Spermophilus undatus.
See: ground squirrel
Quotations
1853
The larger [marmots] were of greyish yellow above, with an orange tint upon the throat and belly. These were the "tawny marmots," called sometimes "ground-squirrels," and by the voyageurs, "siflleurs," or "whistlers."
1896
I collected a few siffleux, one of which I boiled to test the quality of its flesh; it tasted much as a house rat looks.
1896
Ground squirrels or "siffleux" as they are known to the Company's people, are a characteristic feature of the barren portions of Arctic America.