Brand Recognition: do we need a new name for mammal watchers?
Brand Recognition: do we need a new name for mammal watchers?
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14 Comments
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Ralf Bürglin
For me, “Mammal Watcher” is just right. It is self-explanatory, manageably short and the term implies the possibility of not only ticking but also making long, enjoyable observations. I agree with Michael Johnson concerning “Mammaler”. It is harder to pronounce and less understandable. “Titcher” would be indeed very funny. But I would be less concerned about the inherent political incorrectness than about the possibility that someone might mistake me for a specialist birder who is only interested in tits (the bird family Paridae). And seriously, what could be worse for a mammal watcher than to be mistaken for a birder 😉
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machunter
Some thoughts on the earlier Comments:
In my experience “wildlife” makes most people think primarily about mammals but, at least in North America, the term “wildlifer” has been usurped by professional wildlife biologist/managers. Personally, I like to use “wildlife” for all life forms that are undomesticated … from fungi to fossa … which avoids weird constructs such as “fish and wildlife.” I even hear “birds and wildlife” surprisingly often.
English-speakers throughout the Palearctic routinely speak, without blushing, of “great tits” (one of the region’s most widespread birds).
I liked “furries” as a possible name until a niggling concern led me to google the term….wow! -
Lars Michael Nielsen
Mammal Watcher is a good and precise name in my opinion. In birdwatching a twitcher is a person trying to see a rare bird in a country or area. Twitcher can be applied to mammalwatchers doing the same. I’ve personally been twitching a lot before both birds and mammals here in Denmark and Sweden as well. To me the “target” doesen’t matter. The name twitcher originates from a person starting to “twitch” due to ferrezing or adrenaline after seeing a rare bird in Britain quite som time ago. I dont remeber the whole story or species at the moment. But for people watching mammals “Mammal Watcher” is the best “label” i’ve seen so far.
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JanEbr
Mammalwatcher is a great name. We sometimes say that we look for “animals”, especially to people who we doubt that will understand exactly what “mammal” means in English. But I still fondly remember the moment on a campsite in Meru, where we met an elderly British couple and told them we were mammalwatchers – they were quite surprised that this exists and obviously found it a bit foolish at first (despite themselves being on a safari!) – then they became even more sceptical when we told them about our plans to find a Hirola in Tsavo.
Incidentally, we met them a week later again – and immediately the man recognized as as “that’s the mammal watchers!”. I think that soon after that the photos of Hirolas on my camera really made them warm up to the whole idea of mammal watching.
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Michael Johnson
“Mammaler” does not roll off the tongue in the same way as “Birder”.
“Twitcher” is often generally applied to birdwatchers now but originated as a term for someone who searches out particular birds at a particular location because they are rarely seen at that location.
I would suggest that any reference to “tit” in this day and age would be unwise.
Maybe a term will arise but I don’t think we are there yet.