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March 1, 2007

Critter Collectives: Crazy Terms for Animal Groups

You could call them a herd or a school, but those names are boring. Just about every kind of animal has a special name for the group. Many of these names are funky and fun, and often quite apt. So I decided to post some of my favorite animal collective terms for you along with some related pictures and blog posts here on perlgurl.org.

AN ARMY OF ANTS
A Friend For Dinner: Cannibalistic Creatures
Invasive Armies Are A Pestiferous Problem

A SHREWDNESS OF APES
Attacked By Monkeys!
My Coworkers Are Monkeys: I Knew It!
People As Primates

A TROOP OF BABOONS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Baboon

A BATTERY OF BARACUDAS
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Barracuda?

AN OBSTINACY OF BUFFALO
African Field Notes: Cape Buffalo
Interspecies Surrogacy - From Feral Children to Tigers Suckled By Dogs
Where Will The Buffalo Roam?

A CARAVAN OF CAMELS
San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park: Camels
Great Pyramids - Giza, Egypt

A COALITION OF CHEETAHS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Cheetah
The Asian Cheetah
He Wants To See The Cheetahs

A BAND OF COYOTES
Death Valley National Park - Fauna
Año Nuevo State Reserve: Land Critters
Año Nuevo: Scavengers

A BUSHEL OF CRABS
Maui Marine Life

A CONGREGATION OF CROCODILES
African Field Notes: The Crocodile
San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park: Crocodiles
Living With Predators - Crocs
The Crocodile Comeback?

A CONVOCATION OF EAGLES
The Reluctant Bird Buff (Avian Admirer?)
Death Valley National Park - Fauna

AN ARRAY OF EELS
Eating Eels: Am I a Foodie Freak?
Biting Back Against Invasive Species

A PARADE OF ELEPHANTS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The African Elephant
Did You Know? Elephant Bites
Little Big Things: The Discovery of the Pygmy Elephant
The Mirror Has Two Tusks
Call of the Wild?

A FLAMBOYANCE OF FLAMINGOES
San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park: Flamingoes

A GAGGLE OF GEESE
Birds As Carriers: From Avian Flu to Toxic Poop
The Mongoose: A Maui Menace

A TOWER OR JOURNEY OF GIRAFFES
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Giraffe
San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park: Giraffe Faces
San Francisco Zoo - Reticulated Giraffe

AN IMPLAUSIBILITY OF GNUS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Wildebeest
Kenya Wildlife Highlights - The Great Wildebeest Migration

A BAND OF GORILLAS
Mountain Gorilla Habitat Under Attack...
San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park: Gorillas
King Kong's Island Illusion
Lions, Ligers & Bears - Oh My!

Recycle Your Mobile Phone: The Gorillas Will Thank You

A BLOAT OF HIPPOPOTAMI
Podcast: Episode #9: Frolicking Hippos
Podcast: Kenya Waterhole
African Field Notes: The Hippopotamus
Why Can't I Have A Pet Hippo?
San Francisco Zoo - HippoSan Francisco Zoo - Hippo
Living With Predators - Hippos
The Virunga National Park Dung Drought

A CACKLE OF HYENAS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Spotted Hyena
Canis Africanus

A LEAP OF LEOPARDS
African Field Notes: The Leopard
San Francisco Zoo - Snow Leopard
Kenya Wildlife Highlights - Big Cats

A MOB OF MEERKATS
Millipedes As Meerkat Meals
San Francisco Zoo - Slender-Tailed Meerkat

A RAFT OF OTTERS
Special Assignment: Sea Otters
Otter Says: I Was Here First
San Francisco Zoo - North American River Otter

A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS
From Vampiric Spiders To Owl Engineering
San Francisco Zoo - Birds!

A PANDEMONIUM OF PARROTS
DO NOT TALK TO MY PARROT!!!
Caught On Camera: Stealth Logging In The Rainforest

AN OSTENTATION OR PULCHRITUDE OF PEACOCKS (PEAFOWL!)
Pleasant Pheasants: Peacocks Are A Misnomer Most Fowl

A COLONY OF PENGUINS
Podcast: Jackass Penguin Colony In South Africa
Jackass Penguin Colony - Boulders Beach, South Africa
San Francisco Zoo - Magellanic Penguin
Isolated Ecosystems: The Farallons Are California’s Galapagos

A COVEY OF QUAIL
Año Nuevo State Reserve: It's For The Birds

A RHUMBA OF RATTLESNAKES
Rodent Radiation: Squirrels Get Sassy

AN UNKINDNESS OR MURDER OF RAVENS
Resourceful Ravens
A Friend For Dinner: Cannibalistic Creatures

A CRASH OF RHINOS
Podcast: Safari South Africa
African Field Notes: The Rhinoceros
Tigers In Trouble

A SHIVER OF SHARKS
Podcast: We're Going To Need A Bigger Boat - Great White Sharks
Shark Cage Diving - Sketchy?
Great White Shark Diving - Gansbaai, South Africa
Moss Landing State Beach: Shark Attack
Great White Sharks One of Many Victims In Multi-Billion Dollar Wildlife Black Market

A SCURRY OF SQUIRRELS
Rodent Radiation: Squirrels Get Sassy
Solution to NPR's Exploding Maple Trees

AN AMBUSH OF TIGERS
Lions, Ligers & Bears - Oh My!
The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans
The Earth's Last Wildernesses
Tigers In Trouble

A TURN OF TURTLES
Hawaiian Honu: The Green Sea Turtle
The Turtle With Two Heads
New Orleans - Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve - Barataria Preserve - Turtles
Sea Turtles: Off The Hook

A COMMITTEE OF VULTURES
Podcast: Safari South Africa
California Condor Craving Coastal Carrion
The New Days Of The Condor
Año Nuevo State Reserve: It's For The Birds

A BOOGLE, GANG, OR CONFUSION OF WEASELS
Bunny Binkies & Weasel War Dancing

A ZEAL OF ZEBRAS
African Field Notes: The Zebra
Creepy Creature Camouflage
Kenya Wildlife Highlights - Spots & Stripes

Incidentally, I have yet to find a true collective name for mongooses, and so I have decided to name it myself. A group of mongoose is called a trouble, as in a trouble of mongoose or Where's the trouble?. I figure that the best way to create a new word is to use it, and to encourage its use, until it makes it into the mainstream.

MORE AT:
USGS:Animal Congregations, or What Do You Call a Group of.....?
Hints & Things: Terms for Groups of Animals, Birds and Insects
Enchanted Learning: Names of Males, Females, Babies, and Groups of Animals

Posted by sorsha at March 1, 2007 12:06 PM