A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

27 Hilarious (but Totally Real) Names for Groups of Animals

A grumble of pugs, an embarrassment of pandas, a kindle of kittens! The A Compendium of Collective Nouns by Woop Studios offers the accurate but wild word for every animal pack under the sun. Here's our guide to remembering which is which.

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Black puppy pug dog sitting with fawn pug dog on dry grass with dry Leaves background.
Ezzolo/Shutterstock

A Grumble of Pugs

How to remember: “I hate work,” one pug grumbled to the grumble of pugs. “The boss treats us like dogs.”

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Group persian kittens sitting on cat tower
ANURAK PONGPATIMET/Shutterstock

A Kindle of Kittens

How to remember: Our daughter browsed LOLCats on her tablet, cooing over a kindle of kittens on her Kindle.

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Three giant pandas has lunch, Giant Panda Breeding Research Base (Xiongmao Jidi), Chengdu, China
Karel Cerny/Shutterstock

An Embarrassment of Pandas

How to remember: The newlywed embarrassment of pandas could not mate on command—much to their embarrassment.

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Chacma baboon in Kruger national park, South Africa ; Specie Papio ursinus family of Cercopithecidae
Utopia_88/Shutterstock

A Congress of Baboons

How to remember: Q: What’s the difference between the U.S. Congress and a congress of baboons? A: One is a pack of rowdy primates—and the other is a group of baboons. (Hey-oh!) You’ll love these cute photos of baby wild animals.

5 / 27
Dwarf Hedgehog and Friends Are looking at food with dwarf hedgehogs.
Thanisnan Sukprasert/Shutterstock

A Prickle of Hedgehogs

How to remember: Snoozing in the sun, I woke to a prickle on my cheek—it was a prickle of hedgehogs scampering all over my face. Come on—who doesn’t love cute hedgehog pictures?

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Common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, mostly herbivorous, semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa, in the water in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) Crater Highlands, Tanzan
Anky/Shutterstock

A Bloat of Hippopotamuses

How to remember: The bloat of hippopotamuses felt bloated after lunch, but thankfully it was a short walk back to the swamp from the drive-through.

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Family of mice eating cake in an urban house garden.
Paul Broadbent/Shutterstock

A Mischief of Mice

How to remember: A mischief of mice discussed how they might scam more cheese. “What if we pretend to be blind?” one said, mischievously. Check out these animals who actually have superpowers.

8 / 27
Birds and animals in wildlife. Amazing closeup view of brown mallard female duck on stone under sunlight with others swimming nearby in water of park river landscape.
EvgenySHCH/Shutterstock

A Dropping of Ducks

How to remember: After slipping in a puddle of duck droppings, Father angrily stormed around looking for the dropping of ducks that dropped it.

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UK, South Georgia Island, colony of King Penguins marching on beach, side view
sirtravelalot/Shutterstock

A Waddle of Penguins

How to remember: After he ate all of his krill, the penguin waddled back to the waddle of penguins to try to score some more.

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Elephant herd drink at a waterhole in Etosha
Johan Swanepoel/Shutterstock

A Memory of Elephants

How to remember: They say an elephant never forgets. But a memory of elephants never forgets to smell awful. Here are 11 wild animal species you never knew were endangered.

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Close up of caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber), selective focus.
tristan tan/Shutterstock

A Flamboyance of Flamingos

How to remember: Flamboyantly, the flamboyance of flamingos fluttered into the fairgrounds, flopping their feet and flipping their feathers.

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Two hummingbirds visit pink flowers in raining day
Freebilly Photography/Shutterstock

A Bouquet of Hummingbirds

How to remember: My wife thought she was getting a bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day, but I’m much more creative than that. When she unwrapped her gift—boom!—a bouquet of hummingbirds. Nailed it.

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Mountain gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei, Amahoro group, family group, silverback, female, baby or babies, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, East Africa
Mary Ann McDonald/Shutterstock

A Whoop of Gorillas

How to remember: Our seats were right on the fifty-yard line, but unfortunately we were near an annoying whoop of gorillas whooping for the other team.

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Dazzle of Zebras (Equus quagga) standing on the lush plains next to Lake Kariba in Matusadona National Park Zimbabwe
paula french/Shutterstock

A Dazzle of Zebras

How to remember: “Dazzle me!” Britney told the dazzle of zebra dancers as they unpacked their sequins and clomped on the stage behind her. These are 12 of the smartest animals in the world.

15 / 27
portrait of beautiful and playful river otter, wildlife Czech republic
Artush/Shutterstock

A Raft of Otters

How to remember: We were rafting downriver when a raft of otters capsized our boat. “You otter know we don’t take kindly to strangers,” their tiny chief barked at us. Even while wet, it was hard not to laugh.

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Closeup of a Meadow Grasshopper - Chorthippus parallelus - resting in sunlight on a green leaf
SanderMeertinsPhotography/Shutterstock

A Concerto of Crickets

How to remember: It was a beautiful July night, perfect for a concert by a concerto of crickets. Unfortunately, they were too tiny to lift their heavy instruments, so we demanded our money back.

17 / 27
fake
Marben

A Blessing of Unicorns

How to remember: A blessing of unicorns pranced across the rainbow, until one sneezed pixie dust all over his friends. “Bless you,” the blessing brayed. Don’t miss these weird animals you won’t believe are real.

18 / 27
Female wombat with her joey, Queensland, Australia
Gekko Gallery/Shutterstock

A Wisdom of Wombats

How to remember: I once stumbled upon a whole wisdom of wombats in the woods. They were quietly puffing on homemade corncob pipes and discussing Walden.

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Polar bear with her cubs
outdoorsman/Shutterstock

An Aurora of Polar Bears

How to remember: We weren’t able to see the aurora borealis in Alaska, but at dawn, an aurora of polar bears gave us a kiss good morning. So that was almost as special.

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A group of young ground squirrels playing at the local park
Avi Drori/Shutterstock

A Scurry of Squirrels

How to remember: First, just the one squirrel scurried onto our blanket. But then an entire scurry of squirrels scurried up to us. We never got to finish our picnic because we ran away. These are 10 of the oldest living animals in the entire world.

21 / 27
European brown hare (Lepus europaeus)
Ivan Godal/Shutterstock

A Husk of Hares

How to remember: The husk of hares ate corn husks at dusk, wondering whether a colony of rabbits would join them. If you love bunnies, check out these cute bunny pictures ASAP.

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Group Goldfish isolate on a gray background
panudda wongsom/Shutterstock

A Troubling of Goldfish

How to remember: Upon learning his species had an average attention span of eight seconds, the troubled goldfish returned to his troubling of goldfish, only to forget what he was troubled about. Don’t miss these 11 animals with silly (but totally real) names.

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Giraffe Family
Craig Fraser/Shutterstock

A Journey of Giraffe

How to remember: If giraffes are journeying across the land together, they are called a journey of giraffe. Once they reach their destination and stand still, observing the surroundings they tower over, they become a tower of giraffe.

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Hyenas
Jim Lambert/Shutterstock

A Cackle of Hyenas

How to remember: A cackle of hyenas will always cackle until a lion approaches—especially if that lion is named Scar or Mufasa.

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Helix pomatia also Roman snail, Burgundy snail, edible snail or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae.
Andrey Armyagov/Shutterstock

A Walk of Snails

How to remember: No matter how slow you walk, you will always walk faster than a walk of snails. Here are 11 more animals with surprisingly misleading names.

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A rattlesnake coiled on a tree branch.
Joe Hendrickson/Shutterstock

A Rhumba of Rattlesnakes

How to remember: Once Rue turned on the rumba radio station, the whole rhumba of rattlesnakes started dancing the rhumba with their Roomba Robot.

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Newborn Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) with its mother.
Vladimir Wrangel/Shutterstock

A Stubbornness (or Crash) of Rhinoceroses

How to remember: The stubborn stubbornness of rhinos wouldn’t move out of the way, so it crashed into another crash of equally stubborn rhinos. Next, check out the strangest animal found in every state.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published in Reader's Digest