Latin names never fail to entertain me. I love Athene noctua because it's the most glamorous, gothy sounding name you could ever come up with, and for an owl no less. And as a ferret owner, I always got a kick out of the names of the ferret (Mustela putorius furo) and it's forebear the European polecat (minus the furo). I have heard various interpretations of the meaning but as far as I can tell the polecat is a stinky mousekiller and the ferret is a stinky mousekilling thief. As a ferret owner there could not be a more accurate name for the little terrors :)