The Power of Will

During breeding, the male anemonefish becomes aggressive and selects a nesting site on a bare rock or even inside the anemone’s mouth!

After the female releases the eggs into the nest, the male fertilizes them and tends over them.

Just because Nemo is a fish and a clown, you may assume that he has an uninteresting life. But this clown wears two masks - all clown fish are born male and can change sex at will!

Anemone fish have dormant reproductive organs inside them to become female when the occasion calls for it. When a female dies, the dominant male changes into a female and a non-dominant male takes over as the dominant male.

Something fishy going on...

The Kingfisher courts the female by displaying his flying skills and finally catching a fish and presenting it to his queen.

The pair then take turns in stabbing at the earth with their bills to make a 3 feet upward-slopping tunnel in the river bank. A nest chamber is made at the end of the tunnel where the female lays about 5-8 little white eggs and starts incubation but is subsequently taken over by the male.

Love Kills!

It may seem to the uninitiated that two cobras with necks entwined are mating, when in fact they are just two males wrestling over a female. The winner then rubs his chin along his queen’s body calming her and preparing her for mating. The rest of it is too serpentine a tale to go into!

That's What Barns Are For....

The male owl chases the female of his dreams (he does sleep in the daytime!) showing her his flying skills under the stars. He also makes loud wing claps and calls finally feeding her after the show.

Once they have their ‘roll-in-the-hay’ (that’s what barns are for – hey, I'm talking about the hay!) they usually remain partners for life.

Well, they don’t build a nest. Why should they, when they have the whole loft to themselves, anyway?

Till Death Do Us Part

Octopuses only mate once during their short 18-month life. The male octopus attracts a female by displaying a new colour and lifting up his arms to reveal the large suckers underneath. He uses a spoon-like cavity on the tip of his third arm, to transfer sperm to the female's mantle cavity.

A few weeks after mating, the male deteriorates and dies. The female lays clusters of grape-like eggs, attaching them to the walls of a crevice on the seabed. She remains with her eggs until they hatch, not eating all this time, and dies just when the eggs are hatched in a few weeks.

Dressed to Kill: One Night Stand

The male leopard may have to fight other contestants for claiming his mate, though it’s a one-night stand! Afterwards, the pair breaks up – each going its separate way.

The birds are better at it!

“Eight days a week, I love you, love you, love you,” goes the Beatles hit song. It could well have been dedicated to the lovebird for whom it’s Valentine’s Day every day of the year.

With a stocky build, a short, blunt tail and a disproportionately large beak, its no wonder it is such a smoocher!

Also known as Les inséparables in French, a pair will form an extremely close bond for life.

They show each other their affection by cuddling up together and scratching each other’s heads. And you don’t have to be a peeping Tom to catch them in their cages beak-to-beak, eyes closed, blissfully unaware of the self-imposed restrictions of public display of affection on their ‘free’ captors. Guess that’s what the Beatles meant in their song, “Free as a bird.”

Sure, even lovebirds don't live on love and fresh air alone - they need to eat too. While their lifespan is six to seven years in the wild, it is about 12 in captivity! The Beatles were right - “All you need is love, love, love...”

Copyright © 2007 Noël Gama

Happy Valentine's Day: Kiss this frog at your own risk!

Costa Rica! It seems as if they are all headed to the land of beauty queens - to find a princess for that spell-breaking kiss that would turn the lucky one into a prince.

But think twice - it could be the kiss of death - you could soon find yourself singing ‘when the saints go marching in’ in strawberry fields, forever!

I'm talking about the strawberry poison-dart frog. He's no prince in disguise.

He gets his first name, ‘Strawberry’ from the close resemblance its body has to a dewy strawberry; his surname, ‘Poison-Dart’ because certain South American Indian tribes rub their blowgun dart tips in the poisonous mucous of the frog’s skin; his middle name, ‘Blue-Jean’ because of his purple-blue legs.

It is also known as the ‘Jewel of the Rainforest’ because its vivid colours contrast strikingly with the dull greens and browns of its habitat making it look like a precious gem on the velvet-like mossy floor of the forest – talk about aliases!

I love aliases. They come handy on Valentine's Day!

And I don't have the poison.

But all frogs lose their toxicity when in captivity:)

Copyright © 2007 Noël Gama