A group of deer is appropriately known as a parcel. What Does “A Parcel of Deer” Mean? “Parcel” belongs to a family of old English collective nouns that treated groups of animals a bit like packaged goods, a bundle, a lot, a set gathered together for convenience of reference rather than any deep behavioral meaning. … Read more
A group of deer is appropriately known as a mob. What Does “A Mob of Deer” Mean? “Mob” shows up for deer for much the same reason it shows up for cattle and kangaroos: it’s everyday working vocabulary in Australia and New Zealand, where deer farming is a significant part of the agricultural landscape. Deer … Read more
A group of deer is appropriately known as a rangale. What Does “A Rangale of Deer” Mean? “Rangale” is one of the more obscure entries across this entire site, and we want to be upfront about that rather than guess at a tidy explanation. It appears in some historical collective-noun compilations for deer, but a … Read more
A group of deer is appropriately known as a brace. What Does “A Brace of Deer” Mean? “Brace” is another of the old, number-specific hunting terms attached to deer, and unlike more open-ended words like “herd” or “bunch,” it means exactly two. The word comes from the same hunting and falconry tradition that gave English … Read more
A group of buffalo is appropriately known as a gang. What Does “A Gang of Buffalo” Mean? “Gang” gives buffalo a rougher, tighter-knit image than the more familiar “herd,” and it fits a specific slice of buffalo social life: the smaller, often all-male groups known as bachelor herds. Young and older males that aren’t currently … Read more
