Love is in the air in wild places

Happy Valentine’s Day. This being the day to celebrate love, it seems appropriate to note that February also is prime breeding time for many of Georgia’s wild creatures, from mole salamanders to coyotes.

Even skunks are finding love in the air. The males of Georgia’s most common skunk species, the striped skunk, travel several miles in one night this time of year to find amorous females in their dens. The males, though, are polygamous — they have more than one mate at a time. (Georgia’s other skunk species is the Eastern spotted skunk.)

Bobcats, raccoons, gray foxes, red foxes and coyotes also have started looking for love in all the right places. Possums are breeding, too; after they produce a litter of three to 25 babies in the spring, they might breed again in the summer.

Three other creatures that will produce two or more litters this year are gray squirrels, flying squirrels and Eastern fox squirrels. You might see several frisky male gray squirrels pursuing a female up and down tree branches in what is called a mating chase. The three species give birth to two to seven babies 40 to 45 days after mating.

In the amphibian world, the breeding calls of spring peepers and upland chorus frogs in wetlands can be deafening right now. In the mountains, wood frogs are breeding in temporary pools or in slow streams. They are “explosive breeders” — many of them gather in ponds for a few days to breed and then “disappear” to other environs until next year.

Among birds, barred owls are uttering their haunting calls (which sound like “who-cooksfor-you”) to attract mates. Red-tailed hawks, pileated woodpeckers and American woodcocks are performing their elaborate courtship displays. Black vultures also are mating.

Bluebirds are checking out nest boxes for the breeding season. A rule of thumb is that you should have your bluebird boxes up and ready by Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend: birdcount.org.

In the sky: The moon will be new Wednesday, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. On Friday, the moon, Venus and Mars will appear close together in the west just after dark.The planets will set a few hours later. Mercury is low in the east just before sunrise and will appear near the moon Tuesday morning. Jupiter rises out of the east at around sunset and is visible all night. Saturn rises out of the southeast a few hours after midnight.