Let These Nine Romantic Animals Inspire You on Valentine’s Day
From seductive dancing seahorses to peacock-like spiders, these sensual creatures would put Casanova to shame
Valentine’s Day can be a little cliché: red roses, dinner reservations, a box of chocolates—boring. But those who need inspiration to ensure their declaration of love stands out from the crowd should look no further than the rest of the animal kingdom.
From mesmerizing your date with a colorful show to humming a love song, taking a few cues from the courtship styles of these nine animals can help you impress your partner. And if you need extra instruction on what not to do, we’ve chosen one animal whose courtship methods you should absolutely not try.
dancing sea horses
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Nature Picture Library / Alamy
Seahorses are already revered because of the unusual reproductive trait of having males that are pregnant. But these creatures stand out above their peers in another way: They never let the spark die. Every morning, seahorses welcome their other half by performing rhythmic dance This may last for minutes or hours to strengthen their bond. Sometimes they even change color midstream—impressive.
duet gibbons
Gibbons take love songs very seriously, singing long and loud duets with their chosen partners every morning. Skywalker gibbons are particularly renowned for their singing abilities, their songs echoing throughout the forest canopy.
Gibbons’ songs, which follow a rhythmic structure like human musicThese are used as a way to mark their territory, but also to allow individual animals to connect with their partners in the morning.
committed dick-dics
Like many animals living in the African Savanna, dik-diks mate for life. These little antelope are socially monogamous, meaning they can breed with another dik-dik during their lifetime, but they always return to their preferred partner.
Their love language is quality time, research shows married couples spend time 64 percent Of their time together. So make like Dik-Dik and get cozy.
artistic puffer fish
Narrow-lined puffer fish.
Mysterious crop-circle-like designs appearing on the ocean floor could be mistaken for extraterrestrial creatures underwater, but the creators of these circles aren’t aliens – they’re love-struck puffer fish.
Forget the rose petals on the stairs. Male pufferfish, trying to win the female’s heart, spread their fins on the sand, making ornate circles And patterns to draw a date.
affectionate vulture
Nature Picture Library / Alamy
Vultures can have a long lifespan, with some species living close to 50 years. And because these birds mate for life, they’re in it for the long haul.
To show their enduring affection, pairs of vultures coordinate their flight patterns, touching their beaks together in what resembles a kiss and entwining their long necks. That’s commitment.
Colorful Amazon River Dolphin
Sylvain Cordier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
These cetaceans are dressed in pink throughout the year for Valentine’s Day. The Amazon River dolphin’s famous pink skin turns a bright shade of pink when it searches for a mate.
Studies also show that males of this rare freshwater species Show off Approaching potential partners with objects such as sticks and clumps of grass in their mouths. We are feeling shy.
live peacock spiders
Peacock spiders are one of the most elaborate and flamboyant spiders courtship ritual Of some arachnid.
Males dance and vibrate with the rhythm, showing off their bulging abdomens to impress their mates. They perform by lifting one or two legs at a time, waving their limbs around like a fan – mesmerizing.
showy chameleon
Wolfgang Kähler/LightRocket via Getty Images
Chameleons usually use their ability to change color as camouflage to hide from predators, but when it comes time to find a mate, that natural ability comes to another use. Male lizards puff out their throats, shake their heads and display their brightest colors As they crawl towards their desired female. Showy displays may demonstrate their physical strength. are you not entertained?
Tasty Bowerbird
Photography by Marco/ Alamy
When male bowerbirds have a mate in mind, they skip the dinner date and get straight to the business of interior decorating.
After building an elaborate structure on the forest floor, the male bird fills it with as many colorful objects as possible to entice the female to enter – and, if everything goes to her liking, to stay as well. After all, home is where the heart is.
What Not to Do: Scary Hermaphrodite Sea Slugs
Goniobranchus reticulatus.
Perhaps you’re pretty confident about what you should do to attract your partner, but you feel less confident about what you should do. No What are you doing. One creature in particular may indicate something there.
In contrast to the gentle displays of affection listed above, we do not recommend emulating the courtship strategies of bisexual sea slugs. The rituals of slugs vary by species but range in scope. are attacking each other in the forehead, self-dissection their gender and Eat each other. If unsure, stick to roses.
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