It's not uncommon to see a sounder of pigs in some parts of the country.
What would you do if you encountered a sloth of bears, a bask of crocodiles or a quiver of cobras?
Running the other way would be a good idea. Diving into the surf might help you get away from a swarm of bees if you're at the beach. But then you might enounter a smack of jellyfish or shiver of sharks.
Collective nouns for animals are unusual and sometimes funny. Some are plain and have been used for many years, such as "a gang of ducks." I heard that as a young hunter 40ish years ago from my father, who heard it when he was a young hunter many years earlier.
Here are some collective names for some predators, varmints and other animals we see while out scouting, hunting or trapping:
- Alligator: a congregation
- Badgers: a cete
- Bats: a colony, cloud or camp
- Bears: a sloth or sleuth
- Beavers: a colony or family
- Bobcats: a clutter or clowder
- Coyotes: a band
- Crocodiles: a bask
- Crows: a murder
- Elk: a gang or a herd
- Foxes: a skulk or leash
- Frogs: an army
- Otters: a family
- Owls: a parliament
- Pigs: a drift or drove (younger pigs), or a sounder or team (older pigs)
- Porcupines: a prickle
- Rabbits: a herd
- Rattlesnakes: a rhumba
- Rats: a colony
- Ravens: an unkindness
- Skunk: a stench
- Snakes: a nest
- Squirrels: a dray or scurry
- Toads: a knot
- Turkeys: a gang or rafter
- Turtles: a bale or nest
- Weasels: a colony, gang or pack
- Wolves: a pack
