It's mating season people!

I’ve suddenly started noticing colours everywhere, fragrant aromas and soft winds, the purple puff of Pretoria’s Jacaranda filled streets, bees are buzzing and the birds are singing... And many of the songs you hear are mating calls.  Yes, spring and summer signal the arrival of that sexual behaviour in mammals that we call mating season. While it is clearly seen in hares and deer, I am very sceptical to refer to any specific time of the year as that being the human “mating season”. We have an Afrikaans saying that quite appropriately sums this up: Heeltyd speeltyd!

 

Hunny Bunny

However, there is just something about summer, isn’t there? There are some things that we observe which I can’t help but wonder whether these are mating behaviours. How else can we explain the excessive number of love junkies at the moment?

“You’re being bombarded by pleasant, exciting, novel stimuli, and novelty stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine, which in turn triggers testosterone production,” says Dr. Helen Fischer, a neuroscientist, professor at Rutgers University and author of five books on the science of love. Dopamine is the naturally occurring chemical your brain uses to make you want things. While there are other systems involved in love, when it comes to new love, dopamine is the main culprit. And with enough of it swirling around your system, you're prone to fall in love - and fall hard.

Friends, your body has turned into a dopamine factory. Did you know that brain scans of people flooded with the stuff look a lot like brain scans of drug addicts? I suppose this makes sense, since being high on dopamine feels, as many lovers would put it, euphoric.

Enough with the romance. Let's cut to the real science.

Here are some yummy science facts that you might want to label as mating behaviour:

Sharing a first kiss.

Male saliva has trace amounts of testosterone in it, which is known to boost the sex drive. A sloppy kiss can get things started in more ways than one. So, while men slip us aphrodisiacs during a kiss, the fairer sex starts a subconscious screening process. Women's sense of taste and smell are especially attuned to something called the Major Histocompatibility Complex, or MHC. It's a series of genes responsible for our immune systems. Study after study has shown that women prefer men whose MHC is different from their own. It means less immune system overlap and a chance for healthier kids. Scientists think that women can read a partner's MHC in their saliva. So a bad first kiss can be the sign of a bad genetic match.

Fights

When I was still studying to become a teacher I heard a lecturer mention that most school fights occur during the months of September and November. One of the factors triggering that wave of violence, disobedience or riot is a biological one. Now, the increase in Dopamine levels triggers the start of increased production of testosterone which is often connected with dominance and aggression. Testosterone also has a lot of positive aspects, such as inspiring a sense of responsibility, and being a protector. Little boys who don’t know how to protect their newly acquired girlfriends without peeing circles around them thus turn to the next best solution: their fists.

Everyone is doing it…

We have entered the time which includes holidays, time to braai, free time and unfortunately a time in which your Facebook newsfeed explodes with updates on how people are very much enjoying their Christmas or beach vacation or New Year's or international travel. And more often than not, they are enjoying it with their significant other. Throw in the fact that people generally have their weddings in the summer and you will be able to add an extra dose of self-pity to your frustrations. This increase in social pressure might drive you to explore some mating behaviours of your own. Hell, with people showing more skin and flaunting what their mammas gave them it doesn’t seem unlikely that Morgan Freeman could be narrating the events as such: “Summer. It's when newly matured Humans gather on beaches with fermented beverages and copulate.”

It is clear that at least some of the symptoms of this giddy feeling we may experience during summer have a basis in biology. I’m still trying to find rational explanations for fumbling over my words, my flushed face, increased heart rate, restlessness, daydreaming, and, of course smiling at my phone for hours on end…

Cheers my friends, to days getting longer, temperatures getting warmer and people getting naked-er. It’s summer. Go have fun. And make use of all the hormones that are working to your advantage.

I’ll leave you with some lyrics that must have been inspired by this phenomenon… you might know them…

Summer loving had me a blast
Summer loving happened so fast
I met a girl crazy for me
met a boy cute as can be

Summer days drifting away
to, oh, oh, the summer nights

Well-a well-a well-a, huh