Ten Strange Animal Mating Rituals

Giraffe: When a male finds a female he will bump his head against her behing in order to make her urinate. Then in a move to shock even the strangest animals out there, the male takes a big sip of urine to see if this is the gril for him. This whole time, it is not uncommon for the male to fight with other males. An act which sees giraffes 'necking' as the hit their long necks together, worked up so much by the whole process, it alos is not rare to find males having sex with other males.

Hippopotamus: Normally when we date to we like to shower and clean ourselves up. Not the male Hippopotamus! This guy goes about attracting  females with rather Messy Technique. Once a male finds an appealing female he proceeds to defecate and and urinate to impress the watching female. To spice things up, the female will also spin his tail around, kind of like a fan, to ensure the mess gets fired all over place and himself. Apparently in the world of Hippos, The laddies love this display and successful male will then head into the water with his new mate to consummate the realationship.

Porcupine: After rubbing noses, the female gives the male permission to proceed with the ritual. What is the next step you might ask? It involves having the male pee on his prospective mate. Covered head to toe in urine, the female then decides if she likes the male based on his pheromones. If she does then the female will allow the male to mate by exposing part of her non quilled underbelly. With a green light, the male approaches to perform the act very carefully.

Red Velvet Mite: This tiny fuzzy looking arachnid puts in a lot of effort to attract a mate. When it comes time to attract a mate, the red velvet mite will build a house made out of sticks, leaves and sperm. That is just step one! This little guy then builds a pathway of silk form his ‘Love Garden’ and proceeds to wait for a female to pass by. When he sees a potential mate, the male starts to dance and if she likes his moves, the female will follow him down the silk road to his house. Once inside the structure, the female will sit on a sperm bubble to complete the mating ritual.

Snails: For hours a pair of snails can undertake their mating ritual, rubbing against one another in a period of foreplay that proves slow and steady wins the race. As snails are hermaphroditic, meaning they are both male and female, each snail slowly goes about trying to impregnate the other. When the time is right, the snails will shoot what express call “Love Darts” into each other. While impaling your mate’s head with a spike it hardly romantic, it does help speed along the proceeds of fertilization in the snail world.

Red Capped Manakin: The mating ritual of the Red Capped Manakin has fascinated experts for years. Why? For much of its mating ritual you had need a high speed camera to see all the moves this bird can pull off. It also creates a very high pitch, electronic like sound to attract the ladies by beating its wings together faster than a hummingbird. Not done there, this little bird pulls out its best Michael Jackson impression to seal the deal. It may not have the leather jacket and sparkling glove of the king of pop, by the Manakin can perform one of the best moonwalks in the animal kingdom.

Flatworms: Another creature whose mating ritual can seem a bit violent is the Flatworm. Like the snail, Flatworms are hermaphrodites which means when a pair come together they actually try to impregnate or fertilize each other. There is twist, however. Flatworms become embroiled in what amounts to a knife fight where both use their penises to try and stab one another. Experts actually call this pa rt of the ritual ”Penis Fencing”. The flatworm which end up getting stabbed is fertilized and becomes the ‘Female’ who is responsible for giving birth.

Bowerbird: As far as birds are concerned, the bowerbird of new guinea and Australia puts in a lot of effort to impress a mate. This bird’s mating ritual involves building an elaborate structure to impress the ladies. Looking like a little Fort, the bowerbird then proceeds to customize the structure by decorating it with colorful objects. Form berries and leaves to class, plastic and other garbage, the male makes his house stand out. To add further flair, the bowerbird can decorate the ‘pathway’ leading up to his hut even and adda little dance of his own to seal the deal with any interested females.

Red Sided Garter Snake: When the time comes to mate, the female Garter Snake will come into the open and release powerful sex pheromones. This often attract hundreds of male snakes who each about trying to fertilize the female. The resulting competition creates a ball of snakes, writing around each other as each tries to get a turn at mating. To complicate matters a bit more, it is not undead of for a male snake to impersonate a female and release pheromones which bring all the boys running. It all makes for one massive animal Ogry.

Arabian Camel: Some animal mating rituals can be weird and disgusting and the one put on by the male Arabian Camel definitely qualifies. When the male wants to let the ladies know he is good to go he will blow up a part of his soft palate so it hangs out of his mouth like some sort of inflated pink balloon. As if that is not attractive enough, the male then proceeds to froth and foam at the mouth. To seal the deal with any interested females, the Camel proceeds to pee on himself and exude a stinky oil use to mark his turf. It is a real treat for the eyes and the nose.