WORDS FROM THE WILD

8 Odd And Fascinating Terms For Animal Gatherings

Credit: Matthew Cabret

Perhaps you noticed that the English language allows itself a poetic license when it comes to collective nouns of animals. You have probably heard of a "murder" of crows, or a "parliament" of owls, but there are hundreds of mind-bogglingly similar cases.

Most stem from Late Middle Ages hunting traditions. Initially developing as specialist vocabulary, they soon became fashionable to use in court circles, eventually reaching unsuspected heights of weirdness that can hardly be interpreted as anything else than satire. So, take most of these with a grain of salt!

Credit: Pete Nuij

Raccoons are inherently amusing animals, and envisioning them engaging in deliberations about local taxes only adds an extra layer of whimsy to their already comical nature. Formerly thought to be solitary animals, we know that males often gather in small groups to better fend off potential invaders and ally against foreign males during mating season (females share a common area but not the same living quarters). So, their quirky collective noun is kind of appropriate.

Credit: Steve Tsang

Ferrets are an industrious bunch. Anyone who has ever watched a group of ferrets running about their business (sic) wouldn’t wonder at all where this noun comes from. These charming mammals were domesticated long ago and selectively bred to hunt rabbits, so they are used to teamwork and following orders.

Another tidbit of ferret trivia: a male ferret is called a hob, and a female a jill.

Credit: Kyaw Tun

This one is a bit misleading, at least if you are expecting alligators to be pious and merciful. There is an ounce of truth in the term, however, since alligators effectively tend to "congregate" wherever there is abundant food or during specific seasons.

In any case, it seems not everyone agreed this was an appropriate term for such fearsome creatures, and this is probably why a popular alternative to describe a group of alligators is menace.

Credit: Cristina Glebova

Ravens are some of the smartest creatures on the planet, so it feels quite prejudiced to think of them as necessarily unkind. According to some sources, the term might stem from the age-old impression that these birds often mistreated their young, casting them into the world before they were ready to fend for themselves.

While this belief lacks basis in reality, crows (the more compact-sized cousins of ravens) are also treated with the same suspicion, as their peculiar collective noun - a murder of crows - is even more worrying.

Credit: Dr. Kristin Laidre, Polar Science Center

Forget the somber connotations of the previous one, and let’s step into a realm of pure wholesomeness. Narwhals are an extraordinarily rare sight–for humans, at least. So, bumping into a whole group of them is surely a blessing. Unlike other types of whales, these true unicorns of the sea are famously elusive, and even marine biologists struggle to catch a glimpse of them.

Credit: Sergi Ferrete

Besides being quite lyrical, a memory of elephants is a fitting term for a group of elephants in the wild. An elephant’s memory is key to its survival, and older members of a group retain complex information about their surroundings, including distinguishing between friendly and hostile humans. So think twice before making an elephant angry, because they are certainly capable of holding a grudge.

Credit: Ahmed Galal

This one has political–or military–connotations, but for good reason! While most felines tend to live solitary lives, on occasion only accompanied by members of the opposite sex, male cheetahs actually form enduring alliances with other closely related males in order to protect a shared territory. These bonds are so strong, that the coalitions may last for their entire lifetimes.

Credit: ahmad kanbar

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since it is remarkably easy to picture moles as hardworking workers of the underground, mining deep below the Earth in search of gold or glory. In fact, many ancient poets thought so, and even Virgil praised their diligence and industriousness.

Ask a farmer, though, and they might have a rather different opinion.