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The chemistry of love - Page 2

© Van Waffle

But there's no question rodents such as squirrels interact using pheromones. In the tree before me are two females. They happen to be grey. There are two black males. These are colour phases of the same species, and their distribution differs across North America. Here in Guelph, both black and grey seem equally frequent.

Playing tag in the park

The males follow the females at a leisurely paces, in single file. There is never physical contact or a hint of aggression. Sometimes the female manoeuvres the trunk between herself and her suitor. Then a brief game of hide-and-seek ensues. Sometimes the chase becomes slightly more animated when she begins leaping from branch to trunk to another branch. Their bodies move elegantly and fluidly across the bark and air spaces between. Their proud tails undulate like roguish plumes. The creatures seem carefree and endlessly amused with their diversion. It will continue all day, stopping only when the female pauses to feed, or perhaps when she decides a male applicant is suitable.

Something must stimulate such unflagging energy, carrying on hour after hour in the chilly winter air.

Flying hearts

Humans play a similar game of sexual tag. We follow, watch and listen, wondering whether our prospective partner is really so devoted. We feel the flush of desire and an uncommon energy. Even quiet folk chatter without inhibition when they fall in love. And all lethargy is gone.

In Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1964 musical, My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle bubbles in song:

Bed, bed, I couldn't go to bed.
My head's too light to try to set it down.
Sleep, sleep, I couldn't sleep tonight,
not for all the jewels in the crown.

I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night,
and still have begged for more. I could have spread my wings
and done a thousand things I've never done before.
I'll never know what made it so exciting,
why all at once my heart took flight.
I only know when he began to dance with me
I could have danced, danced, danced all night!

Eliza was experiencing the same brew of body chemistry as my rodent friends in the tree. It's a feeling common to all cultures of humanity, and has been reflected in poetry since ancient times, this marvel of infatuation. What causes our sleeplessness, and the squirrel's endless pursuit?

Love drugs

When an animal is sexually attracted, the level of certain neurotransmitters increases in its nervous system. Chemicals such as dopamine, they are the body's natural amphetamines, powerful stimulants. They cause the heart to beat faster. Lovers might find themselves stuttering. At the same time, reduced levels of serotonin in the brain cause you to focus on a single person, a single desire. Like the squirrels, you follow that thought incessantly.

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