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