| Shitepoke Creek | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Oregon |
| County | Lane |
| Source | Cascade Range |
| - location | near Dead Mountain, Willamette National Forest |
| - elevation | 2,972 ft (906 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | 43°47′43″N122°22′02″W / 43.79528°N 122.36722°W [2] |
| Mouth | Salmon Creek (Oregon) |
| - location | east of Oakridge |
| - elevation | 1,611 ft (491 m) [2] |
| - coordinates | 43°46′41″N122°21′36″W / 43.77806°N 122.36000°W Coordinates: 43°46′41″N122°21′36″W / 43.77806°N 122.36000°W [2] |
  Location of the mouth of Shitepoke Creek in Oregon | |
Shitepoke Creek is a short tributary of Salmon Creek, which is a tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County, Oregon, in the United States. Arising between Dead Mountain and Eagle Butte in the Cascade Range, it flows south into the creek about 7 miles (11 km) east of Oakridge. Its entire course lies within the Willamette National Forest. [3]
The Middle Fork Willamette River is one of several forks that unite to form the Willamette River in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is approximately 115 miles (185 km) long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at the southern end of the Willamette Valley.
Lane County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 351,715, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Eugene. It is named in honor of Joseph Lane, Oregon's first territorial governor.
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m).
Shitepoke is said by the author of From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame to refer to a heron's tendency to defecate while flying. [4] Merriam-Webster says that the word, a combination of shite and poke , refers to a heron's tendency to defecate when startled. [5] Noting that the word shite "is not now in decent use", The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) of 1971 defines shitepoke as "the small green heron of North America", Butorides virescens . The OED's usage example is: "gulls, shitepokes, cranes". [6]
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.
Merriam-Webster, Inc., is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries.
Shit is a word generally considered to be vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural, it means diarrhoea. Shite is a common variant in British and Irish English. As a slang term, it has many meanings, including: nonsense, foolishness, something of little value or quality, trivial and usually boastful or inaccurate talk or a contemptible person. It could also be used to refer to any other noun in general or as an expression of annoyance, surprise or anger.
