Mice, rats, spiders, foxes to raccoons, this obscure adjective, connected to the French noun broticole, this relates to any animal and insect species with a tendency to live around and alongside humans and their dwellings perhaps as scavengers, but also showing adaptability. Broticole also appears in A Dictionary of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution By Edward M. Barrows (1994) Other related words, in French include brotochore, and brotochorous, described similarly as “désigne des espèces anthropophiles vivant à proximité ou à l'intérieur des habitations”.
Often unwelcome, and often behaving as pests rather than pets, our reaction towards broticoles brings mixed feelings particularly of the furry variety, enjoyed, but not when they suddenly enter the home, tip over garbage bins. But what of the broticolous in song? Here’s a small, fun selection, variously by Modest Mouse, UB40, Dog Race, Belle & Sebastian, Jimmy & The Critters and Richard Sorkin, serious and silly, on the creatures who are always hovering around us, especially when food waste is around or the cold weather draws them in. But in the main it is less about the animals per se, more about our reaction to them…
Want to add further examples of the broticolous, or broticoles, in action? Feel free to share anything more in relation to anything whether in music or wider culture, such as from film, art, or other contexts, in comments below.
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