Anyway, names for groups of animals. Or more specifically, the sometimes fitting, sometimes downright odd names used for animal groups. Most people will be quite familiar with a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves, and a pride of lions. But of course, for every type of animal out there, there is a name for a group of them together. Sometimes there are several names for a group of the same creature. Some of these names are very apt. Some of these names sound like whomever came up with the name just decided to take the piss completely (a "swarm" of bees, fine, that makes sense. But a "bike" of bees? What the fuck?)
So after a bunch of hours of research (trawling through the ASPCA website, a few different zoo's websites (most notably the San Diego Zoo site), plus smattering of reputable zoölogy sites & such, I have come up with a list of the most apt, ridiculous, silly and/or downright mystifying names for animal groups. This is by no means a comprehensive list, these are just the names that I could find that had conclusive proof of their authenticity.
alligators: congregation
apes: troop, shrewdness
badgers: cete, colony, set, company
bats: colony, cloud ~aiiiieee! I am being besieged by a vicious cloud of bats!!!
bears: sleuth
beavers: family, colony
bees: grist, hive, swarm, drift, bike
boars: sounder, singular ~so a group of boars is called a "singular". You people are weird.
buffalo: obstinancy
bullfinches: bellowing ~taking the "bull" part of this bird's name a little too literally aren't we?
butterflies: flight, flutter, (plus many more unconfirmed names, names like "kaleidoscope")
buzzards: wake ~as in the funeral wake they'll have after tearing your carcass asunder & devouring all but the bones. Or not.
camels: train, caravan, flock
cats: clowder, cluster, dout, glaring, glorying, pounce, nuisance ~well they do glare, and they can be a nuisance. Unfortunately "rowdy bunch of mangy flea-bitten bastards" isn't an official agnomen.
caterpillars: army ~a group of frogs is also referred to as being an army.
cheetahs: coalition ~that is fucking awesome.
chickens: brood, peep
cockroaches: intrusion ~just like on "Joe's Apartment".
cormorants: gulp ~if you've ever seen one of these birds eat a fish you'll know why they have this name.
cows: kine
crows: horde, murder, parcel, storytelling ~I suspect "storytelling" is a pretty old name for a group of crows.
crocodiles: bask, float ~why not a "deathtrap"?
doves: arc, dule, flight, pitying
eagles: aerie, convocation
emus: mob
ferrets: business, cast, fesnying
finches: charm
flamingos: stand, flamboyance
foxes: earth, lead, leash, skulk, troop ~skulk = totally cool name.
giraffes: herd, corps, tower
goldfish: glint, troubling ~I'm never going to look at a goldfish the same way again.
grasshoppers: cloud
hawks: boil, cast, kettle
hedgehogs: array ~I say Chauncy! What a delightful array of hedgehogs I spied on the grounds this morning!
hippos: bloat
hornets: nest, bike ~again with the bike thing.
hyenas: cackle ~so very apt
jellyfish: smack, brood
larks: exaltation
leopards: leap
lions: pride
lizards: lounge ~Yep. A lounge. Sourced from San Diego Zoo. I'm as surprised as you are.
mice: mischief ~heeeee! ^__^
midges: bite ~aw c'mon, that's not even trying!
monkeys: barrel, cartload, troop, tribe ~yes, barrel. According to the San Diego Zoo, barrel is indeed a proper, accepted name for a group of monkeys. WikiAnswers provided "cartload". I couldn't verify these two words from any other source though. Fucking monkeys, always giving me the runaround.
mosquitoes: scourge ~yes, that too is very apt.
otters: romp, bevy, family, raft
owls: parliament ~I thought owls were supposed to be "wise". Everyone knows a parliament is full of fools.
parrots: company, pandemonium
peacocks: muster, ostentation, pride
porcupines: prickle
prairie dogs: coterie
rabbits: warren
raccoons: gaze
rattlesnakes: rhumba ~sadly, cobra "polkas" is merely a name I just made up now.
ravens: unkindness ~a bunch of crows might murder you, a bunch of ravens will just be mean to you. Pussies.
rhinoceroses: crash, stubbornness ~an "irritability" or a "myopic brouhaha" would also work well I reckon.
seabirds: wreck
snails: escargatoire, rout, walk
spiders: clutter
starlings: chattering, murmuration
storks: mustering
squirrels: dray, scurry ~why not a "skitter" or a "scamper" of squirrels then?
thrush: mutation ~that's so lovely.
tigers: ambush, streak ~an ambush. Ho ho ho how deliciously sinister.
turkeys: rafter
vipers: generation
vultures: colony, venue
vultures (circling): kettle ~as you lie dying in the desert, be aware that your flesh will soon be ripped apart & consumed by that kettle circling overhead.
weasels: pack, colony ~I don't know about you, but the phrase "a pack of weasels" brings such joy to my heart.
wombats: wisdom
woodpeckers: descent
zebras: herd, zeal
Hopefully you've found at least one name you hadn't heard of before that tickles your fancy. I sure found a few! :D
☠ Chloé
Posts
Porcupine: Prickle. That's so twee.
ReplyDeleteyeah its the perfect combination of "not even trying" and "brilliantly appropriate".
ReplyDeleteNow I'm wondering if these animal group names are as equally odd in other languages.
ReplyDeleteI just found out that Glint is actually a rock band and a kind of wombat is among the rarest mammals. XD
ReplyDeleteWell, Tilly, in Brazilian Portuguese, we rarely use already existing words for collectives, so, it is weird too, but in a different way.
I love that word, "wombat".
ReplyDelete