Mothers in animal kingdom have different methods

As featured May 4, 2012, on www.cnjonline.com

They build homes, hunt, stand guard during nap time, comfort, nurture and scold.

Sometimes they are the most gentle spirits, other times the most ferocious defenders and often a little of both.

Throughout the animal kingdom, mothers come in all shapes and sizes and approach their responsibility from a multitude of angles.

While humans will celebrate their mothers in a week, the majority of moms on the planet just do what they do with no thanks, even though all of them give of themselves to inspire life.

There are the long-haulers like the orangutan who spends the longest giving up to 10 years to their kiddos and then the turtles who “set it and forget it,” dropping their eggs and never looking back.

The differences in methods are sometimes a little shocking.

For example, the thought of peeking out at the world from behind two rows of sharp predatory teeth is anything but a comforting idea for most of us, but it's one of the best cradles in the world if the teeth belong to your alligator mom.

And while the sight of them sends some people screaming to their therapist, the most cozy place in the world to sleep is nestled in the back hair of your mother – if you're a wolf spider that is.

Or imagine having hugs times eight like only the original Octa-mom can do, and not without great cost to her. After using her appendages to tirelessly defend her young until they hatch, she is so tired, the mother octupus often dies because can't even defend herself anymore.

As if it weren't enough that they use their own bodies as portable cribs or blankets, these ladies feed, doctor, teach and play with their children, getting them ready for the day when they will have to go out into the big bad world.

In the meantime, they protect them, whether it's the cheetah that fights to the death, the skunk who ignores embarrassment and deploys the stink cloud or the bird that fakes a broken wing to draw a predator away from the nest.

And of course there's the human animal, who uses bathtubs and strollers and automatic rocking cradles and for whom a grueling foraging experience is probably a long line at the grocery or a cluttered pantry, but who, for all their conveniences, is unrivaled in the animal world when it comes to the length of time they parent and the complexity of the job.

Midnight bottles become peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bedtime stories turn into long discussions about life and somewhere in between there's all the laundry and sports events, skinned knees and first cars.

Sure, they don't have to fight off attacking bears, or run down an antelope for dinner, or lead their young 50 miles to find water, and don't pre-chew their youngin's food (with the exception of a recent revelation by Alicia Silverstone who vouches for the technique) but they do invest a lifetime.

So maybe next Sunday when you take Mom to lunch, in addition to thanking her for all the mac and cheese over the years, it's also a good time to thank her for not having a hairy back, or for correcting you with “the look” instead of sinking her teeth in, or for not getting stink all over you when she was trying to keep you safe.

What the heck, even on the off chance she did do those things, take the time to say thanks anyway.