BUY TICKETS

Adult Nights: Wild LoveFood & Drink

All activities are from 7 to 10pm unless otherwise noted.

NATURE RESEARCH CENTER, FIRST FLOOR

7:30pm, 8:30pm: Wild Love BINGO
The Daily Planet Café
Play BINGO with the craziest stories of animal mating. Get 5 frisky creatures in a row to win a prize!

Dancing in the Globe
SECU Daily Planet Theater
Come shake a tail feather and show off your dance moves in the Daily Planet Theater with DJ P.Nominal of SPIN.

Mom, Where Do Baby Lemurs Come From?
Duke Lemur Center
Learn all about lemur love and reproduction from the experts at the Duke Lemur Center. From the ring-tailed lemur’s flirty stinkfighting to the unusual mating behaviors of the aye-aye, we’ll be sharing all we know about lemur love and babies!

Extreme Animal Mammaries
Explore the amazing, wonderful, and sometimes weird world of mammaries! See if you can “match the mamillae” and find out how big a blue whales’ mammaries are! Learn everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the nipples of the natural world!

The Original Cupid’s Arrow
Battle for breeding rights like the hermaphroditic land snail with our interactive Space Balls game. Land more love darts on the targets before your opponent to increase your chances of fathering children. The winner passes on their genes, the loser gets to birth the baby snails!

Baby Daddies
Single dads are rare in the animal world. Learn about some of the best animal single dads, from giant water bugs to seahorses, and vote for your favorite!

Love Letters from the H.M.S. Beagle
Journey to the Galapagos with Charles Darwin! Learn about wildlife on the islands and see how communication with loved ones has changed since his voyage in 1835.
{Journey to the Galapagos irl with Darwin scholar Dr. Paul Brinkman and Museum educator Martha Fisk! May, 2021.}

Size Matters
Ever wonder which animals are the most well-endowed? Is bigger always better? Learn about the factors that influence the size and shape of reproductive organs in the animal kingdom.

NATURE RESEARCH CENTER, SECOND FLOOR

Swipe Right
It’s a jungle out there! Learn how animals identify and select mates. Check out some dating profiles and see if you can secure yourself a suitable partner.

The X-rated Story of Orchids
Triangle Orchid Society
Learn how orchids became the most prolific flowering plants on Earth. Orchids are masters of sexual deception. Triangle Orchid Society members will be in the Naturalist Center to show and tell you about the sneaky tricks orchids use to propagate themselves. Live orchids will be on display along with information on how to care for these exotic plants.

Ice, Ice, Baby
Gerrie & Co. Jewelry and Gifts
Gift your bae some bling this year. Learn about the most popular gemstones and precious metals used in jewelry and discover which minerals can be found in North Carolina.

No Partner Required
Living Collections
You don’t always need a partner to be fruitful and multiply. Learn all about parthenogenesis, a natural form of asexual reproduction and meet some live animals.

Love is Love: Intimacy Beyond Reproduction
LGBT Center of Raleigh
Love means something different to every species and in the human world, love often transcends the desire to reproduce. Come express your fondness for the special people in your life by creating your own valentines and learning more about the LGBTQ+ community in Raleigh.

Conservation Breeding
Living Collections
Learn about the Museum’s species conservation efforts conducted in our Living Collections section. Meet some of our animal ambassadors that are getting down to ensure the survival of their species.

NATURE RESEARCH CENTER, THIRD FLOOR

Lamprey Love
How do fish do the deed? Learn about the enigmatic Least Brook Lamprey with rarely-seen footage of these fish spawning in a North Carolina stream.

The Fragrance Factory
Micro World Investigate Lab
Create your own sensual scents using essential oils in the Micro World iLab.

AntMatch.com
Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab
Find your most compatible ant, and visit the Museum’s ant and insect research lab.

Medullary Mommas
Paleontology Research Lab
Learn all about dinosaur mating displays and reproduction. Get a close-up look at real dinosaur eggs, eggshell fragments, and medullary bone. How does this compare to the mating strategies of modern day dinos?

Wild Speculation: Dinosaur Courtship and Pair-bonding Behavior
Stacy Lewis Studio
Enjoy a live painting demonstration and explore the art of dinosaur courtship with artist Stacy Lewis.

Pillow Talk
Center for Biological Diversity
Learn about your carbon footprint and the unlikely way you can save endangered species: by having safe sex.

NATURE RESEARCH CENTER, FOURTH FLOOR

Members Lounge
Friends of the Museum
Catalyst and Friends of the Museum members receive exclusive access to the lounge, featuring a champagne toast, chocolate-covered strawberries, and themed giveaways. Have a seat, grab a bite and let us raise a glass to celebrate your generous support of the Museum. Enjoy champagne toasts and prize drawings at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30pm.

Survival of the Fittest
Environmental Conference Center
Compete in feats of brains and brawn to win our courtship trials. Activities include:

  • Flirty Frogs: Learn the mating calls of frogs and other animals, then test your flirting skills with a mating call matching game.
  • Just Dance … Wild: You like to move it, move it! Learn about animal courtship dances and dazzle your friends with your best dancing moves on the Wii.
  • Grip it Hard, Grip it Good: Test your grip strength against fellow suitors. Will you come out on top?
  • How Far Can You Go? Jump to impress as you test your leaping skills against fellow suitors.
  • Nasal Attraction: Your mate has left a scent trail for you! Follow your nose in a race to see who can find their mate first.
  • Brains over Brawn: Challenge your fellow suitors to a Mindflex Duel. Use your powers of concentration to levitate a ball into the opposing suitor’s zone to claim victory.
  • Proper Plumbing: You must have the right parts to get the job done. Can you match the reproductive organs to the proper animals?
  • Beauty Shot: Practice your most alluring and charming come-hither stare at our Photo Booth.