Happy Valentine's Day!

I am sorry to say that I do not have a new animal-sex entry for today, but if you long for some information about, and photos of, animals engaged in courtship rituals or all-out mating, you can look at some of my previous posts on the subject (click on each to read about: tragopan mating displays; peacock sex; tortoise sex; barnacles’ endowments; snail sex; damselfly encounters).

Valentine’s Day is, admittedly, mainly an event designed to give money to the card, candy, and jewelry industries (as eloquently discussed by Noël Rozny on her blog), and a way for single people or others unlucky in love to feel especially miserable and alone. But if it’s done right, Valentine’s Day can be fun for anyone—all you have to do is decide that the day is an opportunity to express your affection for all those you love and care for. With that in mind, I offer you just a few photos to illustrate the day:

There’s the tender love between parents and children (at least in the moments when neither one is chewing on the other):



There’s the pleasure of combining the joy of eating with the joy of being together:



And then there’s the bond we enjoy when being with someone, cheek to cheek:


…Or cheek to cheek:


…Or cheek to cheek:



I hope that you, Readers, will be able to enjoy the day and appreciate at least some form of love, for all that matters of the heart can be a thorny affair.

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}