Cute Animal Facts for Valentine's Day

This Valentine’s Day we thought the best way to celebrate would be to turn our gaze to how animals show love. We aren’t the only ‘lovebirds’ out there. In fact, lots of animals put our romantic gestures to shame. So, we’ve comprised a list of our favourite romantic animal facts below.

 

1. When a male penguin falls in love with a female, he searches the whole beach to find her the smoothest, most perfect pebble to present her as a proposal. (If she approves, she puts the stone in her nest.)

 

 

2. Cows have best friends

 

3. Sea otters hold each other’s paws as they fall asleep so they don’t drift apart

 

4. Seahorses are monogamous life partners. Sometimes they travel around holding each other’s tails

 

5. Dolphins have names for each other, making them the only animal (besides humans) that are able to identify fellow creatures with a distinct sound

 

6. White-handed gibbons live in close-knit families. Coupled male and females spend a tonne of time grooming each other and hanging out together

 

7. Swans swim beak-to-beak and tend to stay together forever

 

8. When playing with female puppies, male puppies will often let them win, even if they have a physical advantage

 

9. Guinea pigs are so social that in Switzerland, it's illegal to keep less than two together 

 

10. Puffins mate for life. They lay only one egg per year and both the mom and dad puffin help raise the chick

 

11. Squirrels will adopt other baby squirrels if they're orphaned

 

12. Honey bees communicate by dancing

 

13. Beavers spend as much time bonding with their life partners as they do building dams

 

14. If a cat blinks slowly and deliberately at you, don’t be alarmed, they aren’t plotting anything – it is actually their way of showing that they trust and love you. This sign of affection is known as the “cat’s kiss”.