Love like snails and spiders

gzlaser

FACEBOOK is the place to be for most college students. This is the online community in which one meets new people, and perhaps a potential romantic partner. With a mouse click, one can let the world know if s/he is single, attached or in a complicated relationship.

Humans pride themselves on having the most complicated thinking process in the animal kingdom. However, such declarations of one's availability are no match for animals' elaborate mating rituals.

Snails not only take time to travel from place to place, but they also take time to signal their interests. A passionate snail will circle around an interested partner for between 15 minutes and six hours. It will try to touch the tentacles of the interested partner and bite their lips and genitals.

Offering gifts is certainly a good idea. Male spiders will trap the females in their web, wrapping them in silk. Then a generous offering of insects for a romantic dinner is followed by sex.

Cardinals, brightly colored birds found in North and South America, know the significance of giving gifts as well. Male cardinals will serenade females with a series of calls and bring tasty sunflower seed treats.

Although it is the thought that counts, the actual gift will certainly score some brownie points. Speaking of serenading, male grasshoppers have at least 400 mating songs to catch the females' attention. Is that impressive or what?

The above is an array of examples through which animals signal their interest and availability to the opposite sex. The process is intricate and takes planning. That is the fun of courtship.

Humans used to engage in such elaborated courtship rituals. Dropping a handkerchief may be an old trick, but it does the trick well.

Somehow, with the advances in technology, it takes young people only a click of the mouse to do what animals do with time and energy. No time is spent on guessing the other's intentions. No more fleeting eye contact and no actual chasing around.

If you ask me, technology has taken some of the fun out of love. After all, isn't the thrill of the chase the best part of courtship?