The male firefly, for instance, likes to give potential mates spermatophores, corkscrew-shaped globs of sperm and nutrients for the female to eat. Wild dolphins have been known to present biologists with dead tuna or squid. And the male great grey shrike, an adorable-looking songbird, likes to give females lizards, frogs or mice, which he first impales on a thorn or piece of barbed wire.
For more inspiration, we asked animal-keepers from the Chattanooga Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium and Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center to share some of the more interesting gift exchanges they’ve witnessed over the years.
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Nipper, the best nest builder at the Tennessee Aquarium, and his former mate Flower tend their clutch. For 11 seasons, Nipper and Flower mated, but last year, Nipper instead chose to mate with a penguin named Pebbles.
Nipper, a 13-year-old Gentoo penguin, is the best nest builder at the Tennessee Aquarium.
“He’s very picky about the rocks he’ll use. He has a knack for sturdy nests. When he gets in and out of them, they never fall apart or collapse,” says Loribeth Lee, the aquarium’s senior aviculturist.