Be mine, valentine

Ranger Rick, Feb, 2002 by Elizabeth Schleichert

It's Valentine's Day--when some people think about snagging a girlfriend or boyfriend. But how do animals find mates? The male frigatebird here puffs out his throat pouch. Female frigates love his big-red-balloon look! Read on for more Valentine tricks, animal-style.

Your mom may have told you, "Looks aren't everything." But these guys somehow never got that message. They're using their looks to get a mate--shamelessly showing off their stuff! What can we say? Go, guys!

I'M A REAL MAN-DRILL

How could anyone NOT love a male mandrill's face like mine? These colors aren't some kind of monkey make-up--no way! They're my natural skin colors, and they just drive the females crazy. (Seems that way to me, anyway.) Hey--I think I hear one coming now!

DON'T MAKE ME CRABBY

Yo! You need to know that fiddler crab males like me have a secret weapon for winning a mate. It's a super-size claw! Just a couple of waves of this claw brings the females scurrying. And it works every time. Sweet, huh?

"DEW" YOU LOVE ME?

Hi, I'm Mr. Awesome. The loose skin below my neck is called a dewlap. We male anole lizards can open it up whenever we spot a likely mate. That and some rapid head-bobbing action make us real hits with the females. Now do you wish you had a dew-lap, or what?

When it comes to getting a mate, the good-looks thing is fine for some. But a little song-or-dance routine works better for others. Just ask these guys! And, really, who could resist them?

CHOCK FULL OF LOVE

I'm a male treefrog, and I can really belt out a mating call. It goes chock-chock! As I sing, I puff my throat out into a huge, air-filled bubble. This bubble is called a vocal sac, and it makes my calls louder. If you came to Central America where I live, you could hear how great I sound.

TUNE ME IN!

Howdy! See my raised wings? That's how I, a male tree cricket, get the females. I just rub the rough surfaces of my front wings together to make a trilling sound. Whoa, here comes a female now! Cool, huh? Guess I'm singing the right tune!

LET'S WING IT!

Talk about courting a mate! Nobody tops the razzle and dazzle of a pair of wandering albatrosses like us. I mean, who else spends weeks "dancing" with a future mate? We really get into it--tiptoeing, bowing, and spreading our huge wings. We point our bills way up to the sky and shake our heads. Sometimes we whine and scream. And does this fancy ballet pay off? You betcha! Once the dance is over, we'll become long-lasting mates.

Don't you love getting candy on Valentine's Day? Did you know that some male animals wow the females with gifts too? Well, not candy hearts or chocolates--more like yummy bugs or fish.

COME ON AND ROCK

Sorry, can't talk to you now. I'm busy picking out a special gift. That's what some male Adelie penguins do at mating time. We hunt around for a perfect pebble. If a female accepts the pebble, that means she's accepting the giver as her mate too. Oh, good--here's a nice one. Wish me luck!

IT'S YOUR TERN TO BE MINE

I'm a nice guy--see? I'm bringing a fresh fish to my mate. She crouches down as if begging for food. And that's when I let her have my tasty gift. Then I may fly off for another fish. You can't say we terns don't work hard to win our mates, right?

PLEASE BUG ME

Hi, that's me, a male scorpion fly, on the left in this photo. And all the females love me. Why? I give them tasty insects like the white moth you see here. Some cousins of mine have yet another trick. If they can't find a bug, they just cough up a little saliva. Either way, the females go for it--for real! So you see, animals have lots of ways of winning their mates--and not just on Valentine's Day, either!

So you see, animals have lots of ways of winning their mates--and not just on Valentine's Day, either!