|
|
|
|
Uncommon Behavior
Human sexual contact with animals has always been rare. It has usually occurred only in farming and cattle-breeding environments.
(After an Indian painting, 19th century AD)
|
|
|
In past nomadic societies, sexual contact between lonely herders and their cattle, sheep and goats may have been somewhat more common, but in our modern world such contact is quite rare. Of course, in this area exact figures are difficult to obtain, but the findings of Alfred C. Kinsey still seem the most accurate: Only ca. 8% of American males and 4% of females ever had such experiences, and these were usually episodic. If all all, sexual contact between humans and animals now occurs mostly in rural areas. For instance, boys who grow up on farms may observe the mating of cattle and thus may become tempted to engage in some sexual experimentation of their own. They may attempt coitus with calves, ponies, sheep, pigs, dogs, and even ducks or chickens. Usually these contacts are not repeated more than a few times, although in some exceptional cases a boy may, for a while, establish a regular sexual relationship with a particular animal. Coitus is, of course, not the only possible form of sexual contact. Some boys simply masturbate the animal (as farmers may do in order to obtain semen for artificial inseminations), or they let the animal lick their penis or their anus. Corresponding techniques are also used by girls or women, although for females sexual contact with animals is even rarer than for males.
If sexual intercourse between humans and animals is relatively rare, it is not so very unusual between animals of different species. In some cases (horse and donkey, or lion and tiger), such interspecific mating may even produce offspring (mules, "ligers"). The human animal has, of course, no really close relative among the other mammals, and this may be reason enough to limit sexual contact with them. Obviously, such contact can also never lead to either a human or an animal pregnancy.
|
