Love in the Maryland Wild

Photo by Christopher-Szumlanski

“In nature, nothing exists alone.” – Rachel Carson

Now that many winter holiday celebrations have come and gone, the next on the horizon is Valentine’s Day. Since this is a holiday rife with confusing human history and a variety of social traditions, let’s turn to the animals for some Valentine’s Day wisdom and explore some of the amazing relationships found within Maryland’s wildlife communities.

Mating: For wild animals, is it just about making babies?

When we think about “romance” in the human world, our minds often turn to the concept of long-term monogamy; so, for non-human animals we envision lifetime pair bonds or at least long-term mated pairs. We understand the many benefits of monogamy well, especially when it comes to rearing young that take a long time to leave the nest. It turns out that true monogamy in the natural world is extremely rare, with only 3-5% of the 4,000-plus species of mammals on Earth practicing any form of it. After reading that statistic, monogamy optimists may say, “well, what about the birds?” Prior to advances in genetics, birds were often believed to be up to 90% monogamous, since their social behavior showed that common pattern. Today, scientists can test the genetic makeup of each chick hatched in a female bird’s nest, and for most species, the results show that each group of babies often have more than one daddy. While fish and amphibians generally prefer multiple mating partners, you may be surprised to learn that some insects participate in faithful, life-long mated relationships, including a few species of cockroach!

Regardless of how long animals stay with their mates, there is no doubt that some of them understand what a romantic gesture should look like. Take for example bluegills, a fish species well known for their artful nest building and elaborate swimming and grunting patterns designed to attract a female. Eastern newts love a good dancer too, with females choosing their mates based on the guy who both has the moves and smells the best. Not to leave out invertebrates, the males of some hangingfly species understand the love language of food, bringing their chosen female the largest prey item they can to ensure that she’ll eat long enough for them to mate.

In contrast, it is fair to say that some wild animals skip much of the courtship when reproduction is the goal. Take wood frogs for example, with males so enthusiastic in their pursuits that they sometimes harm the females in the process. Or male damselflies, who despite the cute, heart-shaped body positioning, actually forcefully hold the female in a position to scrape out any sperm from the prior male and deposit his own (but then, with some damselfly species she eats him). Speaking of which, praying mantid females are well known mate eaters, perhaps the ultimate romantic sacrifice.

Whether courtship behaviors meet our romantic approval or not, it’s clear that mating relationships are perhaps some of the most important in the animal world, just as they can be in ours. Some readers may wonder: is there evidence of queer (LGBTQIA+) relationships in nature? The answer is decidedly yes, and stay tuned for another article about that in a future HabiChat issue. For now, let’s not forget to celebrate the countless other forms of love and connectedness in the wild!

Photo by Michael Dwyer

Family: In the wild, do blood relations matter?

For many of us in the human world, our families – whether related by blood or chosen – are our greatest source of love and connectedness. Long-term familial bonds are not as common in Maryland’s wild animals, but some creatures do show that behavior pattern. Black vultures are known to long-term pair bond, and second-year chicks often come back to help parents with the next year’s brood, working as teams to locate carrion snacks. Red fox siblings have also been shown to hang around for more than a year and help with the next year’s pups.

Some species are better at parental care than others, with a few mammals spending years looking after their young – like us, with offspring in our care for 18 or many more years! Juxtaposed to that, some egg-layers may cut and run as soon as they’ve finished, like most frogs and toads. Seahorse males are famous for carrying the young (definitely the exception), but the unsung heroes are perhaps the invertebrates that show careful parental care. Wolf spiders, patent leather beetles, and giant water bugs are all Maryland species that care for their eggs or young.

Symbiosis: When it comes to animal relationships, it’s complicated!

Here is a reminder of some terminology for types of symbiotic relationships:

• Mutualism: both species in the relationship benefit. A Maryland example would be Allegheny mound ants and Edward’s hairstreak butterflies. The ants tend to the butterfly larvae and receive a sweet treat from them, while the butterflies benefit from the ants’ fierce protection.
• Commensalism: one species benefits, while the other is neither helped nor harmed. Whales and barnacles provide an example, with the whale unbothered by a freeloading crustacean that enjoys easy transportation and access to plentiful food.
• Parasitism: the parasite benefits while the host is harmed. Our most loathed example has to be ticks, which hungrily latch on and consume blood from their host, often transmitting disease in the process. Remember, ticks aren’t all bad; they provide an important food source for a variety of other animals as well.
• Competition: species struggle to compete for the same limited resources. Competition is seen widely in animal communities, especially over food and space in declining habitats.

These terms paint a clear picture: there is rarely such a thing as a simple, two-way or binary relationship in nature. They are instead often complex and nuanced in ways science may not even yet understand. If we pull plants, fungi, and other organisms into the mix, the intertangled webs of dependencies and population dynamics can be mind-boggling to consider. This perhaps is one of the strongest arguments for the conservation of biodiversity; for every species we lose, we have no idea how many other species its ripples could affect. Take the Osage orange tree (not native to Maryland, but considered naturalized here), a plant that for some time mystified science as we observed that nothing eats the fruit. Paleontologists have concluded that this unique tree evolved along with several extinct Ice Age mega-mammals like giant sloths and mastodons; when they disappeared, their tree of tasty treats carried on alone and uneaten.

Photo by Tony Quinn

Friendship: Do wild animals make friends like we do?

Defining friendship in the animal world is tricky, as so many relationships can be described as symbiotic without really showing the same qualities as our human friendships. Unsurprisingly, several highly intelligent animals do seem to make friends the way we do, like our trusty canines. In Maryland, the best example of this is in coyotes, who have been documented making friends not only with each other, but with other species like badgers (notably, not found in Maryland). Dolphins are also shown by multiple studies to love hanging out with their besties, playing and hunting together and forming friendships based on common interests. Corvids, specifically crows and ravens, have advanced communication and problem solving skills; as such, it’s no surprise that they form friendships with each other that appear very human-like, sharing food and remaining loyal over many years.

So, what messages can we take away about relationships in the Maryland wild? In the words of the great author and environmentalist, Rachel Carson, truly nothing in nature exists alone. As wild animals and plants are deeply dependent upon one another, so are we intertwined with the natural world that surrounds us. This Valentine’s Day, remember to show some love to Maryland wildlife! For more ideas on how to do that, visit HabiChat archives or the Wild Acres family of websites.