massasauga

[prettygoodword]

massasauga (mas-uh-SAW-guh) - n., either of two species (Sistrurus catenatus and S. tergeminus) of small rattlesnake of the central United States.


Eastern massasauga and western massasauga, respectively, ranging from the Great Lakes to the Mexican boarder, especially in damp areas. There's a lot of variation in their markings, and Wikipedia lists a lot of common names, too. The name is often given as "probably" an alteration of the Mississagi River in southeastern Ontario, which is named from Ojibwe misiza:gi:, inhabitant of the great river mouth, but more likely is that it's directly from misiza:gi:, referring to the grasslands of a river delta, which is prime habitat.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Comments

[dewline]

And then there's the city of similar-sounding name in metropolitan Toronto...

[prettygoodword]

From the same Ojibwe word, yes.

[full_metal_ox]

Not to mention the name of a fuzz-rock duo from Coventry, England; I’m hazarding a guess that the name may be intended to allude to the exotic American birthplace of the Delta Blues. Here’s their cover of Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NqEBY-fqfw

Not, in turn, to be confused with the Northwest Indiana tween power trio of the same name, for whom the word might well be a regional reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMN_asOTw4

[prettygoodword]

I'm assuming the tweens knew the snake. Maybe they'll grow into Sidewinder as they get older.

[full_metal_ox]

And/or Whitesnake.