Are there any animals that mate for life?

[ladymuttly1.livejournal.com]

So I was reading a paranormal romance novel yesterday called "Slave to Sensation*" and the male hero is an Alpha Leopard who is the leader of his pack, has made a treaty with the wolves, protects the younger members, runs a construction business and is an all around okay guy. When I got to the point where I realized that Lucas was a leopard I found myself cursing. LEOPARDS don't run packs. They don't mate for life. They don't seem to have alphas. AAARGH. 

I blame Laurell. Before Laurell decided wereleopards were sexy and turned them into people with fur and with no discernible relationship to a real leopard I don't remember authors blatantly ignoring the characteristics of the animal. Now it seems that paranormal authors have decided that weres are people with fur. Am I wrong? Have I become hypersensitive thanks to the badness that is LKH?

Also-since most authors seem to be too lazy to find animals that do take just one mate I thought we could help them out. Swans are commonly thought to be monogamous. Are there any other animals out there?

Comments

[gwynethfar.livejournal.com]

Mourning doves. They remain monogamous until one of the pair dies, IIRC.

Also, some types of Penguins.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Gibbons. Mandarin ducks. Several types of fish (some species of angelfish in particular). Geese. Swans actually are monogamous, too, though they have a fairly low 'divorce' rate (mute swans, anyway, which are the species I'm most familiar with). I just wanted to edit and be a pedant because I think swan breeding strategies are pretty cool, especially homosexual ones. /nerd

There's quite a few monogamous species out there-- they're just generally not charismatic megafauna so people don't write books about them.

[ladymuttly1.livejournal.com]

I just read an article that says that black swans cheat-a lot. One in six cygnets is the product of an illicit encounter.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Myth-of-Monogamous-Swans-25965.shtml

[daphne-gateau.livejournal.com]

Beavers!! Zomg and it would be so cute. :D I would totally read a paranormal featuring beavers. Okay, I might be alone in that series but beavers are awesome. :D

[deadroman.livejournal.com]

Storks pick one mate for life. :) They always return to the same nesting site. There's a pair of storks just down the street from me and have been using the same nest (utop an old unused telephone pole) for years.

[daphne-gateau.livejournal.com]

I had to double check on these guys before I posted. ;)

Also some otters. Otters people! So cute and funny. I want a were-otter. :) Beaver and otter society would be fairly comical and lack a lot of angst and bloodthrisy-ness. Maybe this is why they don't get the love?

[oh-hay-britney.livejournal.com]

Uhmm...yeah, maybe I'm wrong, but aren't weres people with fur? Isn't that the whole idea? I always understood it as being that a werecreature is a sort of species unto itself, ie. lacking a lot of the characteristics of the animal they take the shape of.

They ARE usually people first and back when she gave a shit about worldbuilding, LKH often demonstrated that their social tendencies are heavily infulenced by both sides of their nature. I mean, even if the leopard tendency is to run solo, it would still make sense to the human to group with their own kind. It's in OUR nature to want to do so, even if it's not in a leopard's.

I don't think you can compare a were too closely with its wild counterpart. Whole different animal, if you'll pardon the pun.

[ever-obsessed.livejournal.com]

As someone who loves the concept of different versions of were-animals (I am that nerd who owns those huge reference books about mythological aspects of shape-shifting and animal worship in ancient and modern culture, and that woman who will read any take on werewolves in fiction), I think my issue isn't that she comes up with such concepts, it's that SHE DOES IT SO VERY BADLY.

Wolves are a social creature, are defined and most well known for it. It's why I'm such a freaking nerd for them, and just for the idea of them. When I read a new take of werewolves, I want to see how they interact, how the human aspects and the animal aspects connect and seperate, how the heirarchy works and how the two alphas interact with each other and the rest of the groups. Leopards are solitary, as are most other big cats except for lions - and when I see anybody (fanfic or other) who uses such a concept, I want to see how they apply that solitary feeling not only to their animal selves but also in their daily human lives. LKH introduces these concepts wrong (leopards are solitary!) but then never even fleshes out the dynamics!

This, more than anything else, is what pisses me off about how she uses the ideas.

Like, the swans.

Yeah, there's a history of feathered shape-shifters (most famous probably being Zeus getting it on with Leda) but once again, she fails at actually using them.

Plus, you know, what are they going to do, peck you to death?

And, of course, there's another thing - how many of these guys are in this area anyway?

It sounds like one big oversexed zoo, okay, LKH?

(Dear Richard, please go find ourself an alpha female who compliments and equals you - I don't have time to write this shit with how involved I am with Heroes right now, okay?)

I have to go read the Silver Wolf again.

[oh-hay-britney.livejournal.com]

Silver Wolf was exquisite. *.*

[kisstheground.livejournal.com]

omg, a wereotter? i'd PAY to read that, i really would.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Awwww, wereotters smashing shellfish with their cute little paws on their tums? I'd DIE reading that.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you could still have stuff like a wereleopard being very insistent on having its own space, maybe a high apartment shared with no roomies. Being rather distant emotionally even if it feels the social need to be involved with others of its kind.

I mean, you cannot base a human social structure on an animal social structure (packs, alpha male, alpha female) if the animals HAVE no social structure, y'know? They could HAVE a social structure, but it would not be a pack.

[orthent.livejournal.com]

Plus, you know, what are they going to do, peck you to death?

Reputedly, a swan can break your arm with a blow from its wing. They only look delicate.

[orthent.livejournal.com]

...I think swan breeding strategies are pretty cool, especially homosexual ones. /nerd

IIRC, Konrad Lorenz described a male/male/female OT3 among his greylag geese...

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

That's neat, actually! I know least about black swans....

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Two males can defend a larger territory and ensure their cygnets get the best resources better than a male/female pair. So in male/male pairs, one will invite in an unpaired female, mate with her, and then the two males raise the eggs. Most accounts I've heard have the guys chasing the female off, but an OT3 makes sense.

...And is totally adorable.

[easol.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer to see THIS going on with some of the dudes in AB.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

There are some species of voles (http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=40B4E251-2B35-221B-637BC34C34291A50) that are *really* monogamous . . . but they wouldn't make for very sexy weres, either. Could give a whole new meaning to the nickname "Pit of Voles," though! XD

Random other comments: anyone who thinks swans are wussies has never been around them. They're like giant geese with EXTRA attitude.

RE: weres as people-with-fur . . . I can see blending human and animal characterstics with weres, no problem, but the idea of social leopards gives me indigestion, too. If you want social feline weres, go for lions, I say.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it, that would be a great story, especially for the polyamorous angle of a woman stepping in on a pre-existing relationship with two men.

[ever-obsessed.livejournal.com]

This is the greatest thing I've ever heard.

[orthent.livejournal.com]

Now that I reflect on it, I think he said that the female goose kind of foisted herself on the male pair...

[ever-obsessed.livejournal.com]

And there's the attempts to drown those who piss them off, *g*

Point is, it was like, oh, look, now there's a wereswan, yay, so now Anita can be Leda, yay, you know?

And now I'm imagining a werepeacock.

I shouldn't have put that into the universe, should I?

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

I have to friend you just on the basis of this post alone. And your library ;-)

[ever-obsessed.livejournal.com]

My favorite take on shape-shifters.

Ever.

Regeane, ♥

[saucyirishlass.livejournal.com]

but they wouldn't make for very sexy weres

Well, I wouldn't have really pegged rats for very sexy weres, either...