As Valentine’s Day approaches, many people search for just the right presents to make their loved ones feel special. Cards, candy, chocolates and heart-shaped everything spill out from store shelves. With so many options and so much fuss, you might be tempted to think that only people could be caught up in such material displays of affection.
Look more closely at love in the animal kingdom, however, and you will discover humans aren’t the only species lured by the power of gifts.
Success in the wild, at least in biological terms, means having young. Males work hard to impress the ladies and win a mate. Lions grow thick manes, peacocks strut their elaborate plumage and bugling elk spar with heavy antlers.
Savvy males of some species have adapted the arguably safer behavior of offering gifts to their potential dates. The better the gift, the more attractive the bearer becomes. But what to give? Melodic songs? A complicated dance? The best gifts for choosy females are often useful ones.
Birds and insects are particularly good at this strategy, offering food and nest-building materials. Least terns court their mates with servings of fish. Females go for the male hefting the largest and most fish, a good sign that he can provide food for her and their future chicks.
Most women would not react kindly to anything related to excrement. But for lady dung beetles, a carefully-rolled, tangerine-sized ball of herbivore dung is just the thing. This odiferous offering gives her a safe place to lay her egg, with the roughage inside providing food for the future larva.
She even hitches a ride on her gift. When she accepts his present, the female dung beetle climbs aboard the dung ball, which the male then rolls away for burial. This mini-chariot ride might save her even more energy for digging burrows and laying eggs.
Dance flies, despite their name, woo their mates with insect prey, as do nursery-web spiders. These meticulous little arachnid males arrive at the female’s door bearing a fly, custom-wrapped in white silk.
The Northern harrier, a raptor known for acrobatic swoops and dives, treats his potential partners to dinner and a show. He combines derring-do with his food gift, delivering a meal of rodents, reptiles or smaller birds to his mate on the fly. This allows him to display his strength and considerable aerial skill, while convincing her that he can feed their future brood.
Not to be outdone, the tufted puffin makes it very clear that he is the handy, home-project type. He brings his partner plenty of nest-building grasses, and even helps to clean out and expand their burrow year after year. No wonder then that these bright-billed, cooperative birds often mate for life.
So, if you are still searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day presents for your partner, friends and family, you could just take a hint from the wild and put together something useful that they would enjoy.
Do-it-yourself project
According to Dr. Charlotte A. Hosie, in the book “Animal Behavior,” the giving of food gifts between mates evolved in many animal species and seems to strengthen pair bonds. This led some biologists to speculate that courtship feeding might be the origin of human kissing.
Make something useful and a little wild for someone you love (even yourself)! You will need:
• Interesting dried flowers, petals and leaves
• Two sheets of transparency
• Sheet of recycled or hand-made paper (optional)
• One thin towel
• Scissors
• Clothes iron and ironing board
• Ribbon or embroidery thread
• Hole punch
1. First venture out to a park or backyard. Look for fallen leaves, flower petals or buds, and greenery with interesting shapes. Luckily, living in Western Washington, we can find colorful flowers in bloom even in winter.
2. Press and dry your prizes carefully inside a phone book for a week or two.
3. Arrange flowers and greenery on top of the first transparency on an ironing board until you find a design you like.
4. Carefully cover with the second transparency.
5. Gently place a towel over the transparencies and iron (without steam) through the towel to heat and seal plastic.
6. Allow to cool for 10-20 minutes.
7. Cut into desired shape for bookmark or coaster.
8. For a bookmark, punch a hole near the top to add ribbon or embroidery tails.
9. Wrap and share.
For a different look, try arranging your flowers on hand-made paper before sandwiching the entire thing between transparency sheets, then finish as above.
Adapted from Flowers and Greenery Bookmark or Coaster, dotcomwomen.com/ crafts/flower-bookmark.shtml Other Activities
Anytime: See tufted puffin pairs and their antics at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Visit pdza.org.
Monday, noon-1:30 p.m.: Look for bird pairs and get inspired for crafting at the Adriana Hess Wetland Park on a guided nature walk. No registration needed. For more information, call 253-591-6439.
Saturday-Feb. 20: Enjoy free nature-related arts and crafts at Northwest Trek during the annual ‘Kids ‘n’ Critters’ event. Admission is free for up to four children, ages 3 to 12, with each paying adult. Nwtrek.org
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