"Animals don't feel badly about who they are, and unless animals are hunting or being hunted by predators, they don't spend their lives trying to look like or be something they are not. Maybe we can take our cues from them. I mean, have you ever seen a squirrel trying to act like a swan to get the girl next door? Not likely. Squirrels spend their time perfecting everything about being a squirrel. So, for all you squirrels out there, if you find that you are more squirrel than swan, your best bet is to embrace those acorn hoarding instincts in you and just be the very finest squirrel you can be."
A specialist in animal behavior compares the courtship rituals and mating behaviors of animals to their human equivalents, revealing the many and often surprising ways we are both similar to and different from other species.
What makes an individual attractive to the opposite sex? Does size matter? Why do we tend to "keep score" in our relationships? From perfume and cosmetics to online dating and therapy, our ultimate goal is to successfully connect with someone. So why is romance such an effort for humans, while animals have little trouble getting it right?
Wild Connection is full of fascinating and suggestive observations about animal behavior. For example, in most species smell is an important component of determining compatibility. So are we humans doing the right thing by masking our natural scents with soaps and colognes? Royal albatrosses have a lengthy courtship period lasting several years. These birds instinctively know that casual hook-ups are not the way to find a reliable mate. And older female chimpanzees often mate with younger males. Is this the evolutionary basis of the human "cougar" phenomenon?
Fun to read as well as educational, this unique take on the perennial human quest to find the ideal mate shows that we have much to learn from our cousins in the wild.
This book is the best example of interesting, intellectual and hilarious. I loved reading it because I learnt lots of interesting facts that I can easily retell to friends and family, and it still made me chuckle in every single chapter.
It covered a diverse range of animal species, but there were still some interesting parallels to human relationships and behaviours.
This was one of those books that I kept on my bedside table and picked up in between other books to read a few more chapters at a time.
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