Been thinking a lot lately (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2015-04-08 18:06:51 by ursusem
One of the things I think that can be apparent about our world is that at least some humans sometimes actually think to themselves: "I want to have sex outside of my species." We know this as a fact. Zoophiles are like that. There are humans that specifically desire to have sex with living beings which are not human.
The question I have is, do non-human animals ever think to themselves: "I want to have sex/fornicate outside of my species/own kind?"
Let's discuss!
Interesting Q. I doubt there can be much factual discussion.
Usually people say that it is just "instinct" and they just want to hump something. A la elephants and small cars.
I think once they realize that they can get such pleasures from another species they will willingly seek it out.
Sometimes even going to great lengths to copulate. Even when not introduced to those pleasures, think about doggie leg humping, why do they do that? You'll usually get a "dominance" answer from normals but it doesn't look that way to me at all. Looks like they want to get off...
Edit: formatting
Well, here's a question for you since you brought up "instinct". What would it look like if the thought "I want to have sex/fornicate outside of my species/own kind?" look like without a standardized language system? And are such thoughts possible without one, or would they just fall under the "instinct" category?
Excellent point to which I have very little answer. Usually I point out that animals have a way of asking to go out a door, fill their feed dish, scratch an itch... so since I often think about female animals they obviously have the ability to signal their willingness to outsiders, although it is often ignored.
Male humping is often thought of as "unthinking" because it is pleasure driven and we have an old bias from pleasure since the victorians.... it pleasure driven instinctual?
On a personal level the idea that animals are only "instinct driven" is laughable. The recent study on horse blankets and horses choosing what they want is a good example..... that's not a taught behaviour but it is a learned behaviour so it is not instinct...
Lol, my horse would sometimes roll in the mud with his blanket on.
In some sense the human urge for sex is also based on instinct. However at early age we also learn it can give us great pleasure. For animals who have not mated yet I would think it would mostly be an instict for them but once they get introduced to it, figure out it brings great pleasure and start seeking for more.
We've been taught to follow sex according to many social rules. Sex with the opposite gender is okay, anything else is questionable and sometimes downright unspeakable. Animals, however, have no idea of these rules so if a human can give them pleasure as opposed to an animal from the same species, I doubt they'd have any issues with it. No rules, simple seeking pleasure! And honestly, regardles of based on instinct or not, why would that be a bad thing?
I'm not so certain that it's true that animals do not have rules when it comes to sex... But that's something I feel like I don't know about.
They certianly have some social rules among themselves (thinking of wolf packs here). But these are more guidlines during mating season than anything else. For wolves these guidelines are more who is and isn't allowed to mate with who, and it's only limited to once a year. When dogs get introduced to having sex with a human (thinking male for the ease of explanation) these rules don't apply for them any more and I've heard plenty of times of dogs demaning for more once they get introduced to it and learn they can do it more often. So from that I can only take that they prefer to (re)seek pleasure as opposed to following their social norms.
I'm just thinking out lout here by the way.
Interesting question. I think there are nonhuman animals who in the moment want sex with creatures outside of their species, as pretty much every example of interspecies mating ever recorded would indicate. But a preference of that kind? That's trickier to find, if it exists at all.
I think the most likely place to find this would be creatures that were never properly exposed to others in their species, due to being raised in captivity. This is allegedly common in falcons and other predator birds who imprint onto their humans.
Also, terrible though it is, traumatic experiences might introduce such preferences in many species of mammals, including humans. For instance, a dog who had to go through Michael Vick style dogfighting might be incredibly aggressive toward other dogs, and if they have sexual urges at all they will likely be toward other species. Not condoning this at all, just giving a scenario where the preference would likely develop.
I'm not sure if very many species do, but I think at least some do. From a few things I've read and seen on the net, dolphins seem to be one of them. Interestingly, they are also cited as one of the more intelligent non-human species. I wonder if that intelligence contributes to cross-species interest... I mean, greater cognitive abilities might contribute to them realizing that they can get sexual pleasure outside thier species a little bit easier. Of course, it's a bit more likely that humans and dolphins have gotten used to each other. Well, the ones in zoos (e.g. seaworld) anyways.
Nice thought provoking question. I would say yes. There have been cases of wolves mating with coyotes where their ranges intersect.
I like Wikipedia's take of animals showing "opportunistic" sexual behavior:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-reproductive_sexual_behavior_in_animals#Inter-species_sex
A while ago it was an even stronger statement:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animal_sexual_behaviour&diff=prev&oldid=646219842
While I don't have actual knowledge in that area I believe that most animals don't explicitely desire sex outside their species, but that they don't see anything wrong with it either, as long as it is an enjoyable experience.
I say most, because I think that there probably are animals who just dislike it for one or the other reason. If there are humans who have a strong dislike of certain sexual acts, why not other animals too?
And maybe there are animals who actually prefer to have sex outside their species. Maybe a human who makes an explicit effort to make it as enjoyable as possible for the animal is sometimes seen a better sex partner, who knows...?
I think so, because most animals think of humans and other animals as belonging to a pack, they don't really think/see other species of animal or let that hold them back. Because humans are more logical, we tend to group people and other animals often thinking in complex terms, and group each other and other beings in similar categories.
I used to know a zoo who had a female GSD that would not have sex with their own species, but would have sex with their human. So, who knows?
i've wondered that on occasion myself, though as said, it would be hard to study. i'd like to think many animals would come to prefer a human partner since in general we can do more for them than a male of their own species (at least in the duration department - thinking of cats, deer, cows, etc.). that and the fact that .. for a male non-human with a human, the non-human doesn't have to wait for mating season. ;)