Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Kinky Members Of The Animal Kingdom

BBC, via nc links:
Romantic relationships are complicated, and so is sex. Relationships can be fraught with the potential for miscommunication or misunderstanding at the best of times, so imagine how troublesome it is to admit, out loud, to your partner, that you've got a sexual interest or fantasy that sits far outside the cultural norms.
But here’s a secret. For just about any fantasy between consenting adults that might be thought of as beyond conventional sexual practices or decency as dictated by society, you can bet that there's a non-human species for whom that particular behaviour is commonplace. Sure, there are plenty of examples of creative role-playing, food in the bedroom, or unusual places to do the deed, but even when you push the boundaries much further the chances are you’ll find it happening in the animal world.
Take giraffes, for instance. Males, called bulls, make casual visits to various groups over time in search of a cow who might mate with him. In order to select the mating partner the bull literally finds the one that best suits his taste – by sampling their urine. Females co-operate in this "urine-testing" ritual, according to researchers David M. Pratt and Virginia H. Anderson. “When the bull nuzzles her rump, she must produce a stream of urine if he is to catch some in his mouth and savour it," they write. If a cow is particularly attracted to a visiting bull, she may simply decide to urinate as he walks past her, no prodding required. Urolagnia, or "golden showers" as it is more commonly known, is not a human invention, it seems.
While giraffes' social decisions are ruled by urine, hippos appear to rely on dung.
I don't know exactly how it works with cattle, but I've definitely seen the bull stick his head into a big stream of piss from a cow who's coming into heat, then he breathes in to get a big whiff and may take a little taste.  It's kind of gross, but it appears to mean he's getting ready to get busy.  More power to him, I guess, but I'll avoid that move.  Then again, I'm not very good at the relationship thing, so I probably shouldn't criticize.

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