Mating Behavior | Animals Do It Too

Till Death Do Us Part (Literally)

Male anglerfish permanently fuse to females, their bodies merging until the male is nothing but a pair of testes attached to the female's body.

Penis Fencing

Hermaphroditic flatworms fence with their two-headed penises — the loser gets pregnant and must bear the energy cost of producing eggs.

Traumatic Insemination

Male bed bugs bypass the female's reproductive tract entirely, stabbing through her abdomen to inject sperm directly into her body cavity.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

When a male honeybee mates with the queen, his genitals explode with an audible pop, killing him instantly.

Losing Your Head Over Love

Female praying mantises sometimes eat males during or after mating — but surprisingly, this only happens about 13-28% of the time in the wild.

Death-Defying Aerial Romance

Bald eagles court by locking talons mid-flight and cartwheeling toward the ground, only separating at the last moment before impact.

Make Love, Not War

Bonobos use sex for conflict resolution, greeting, and social bonding — engaging in sexual activity regardless of gender, age, or reproductive state.

Masters of Pleasure

Dolphins have sex for fun, masturbate creatively, and have functional clitorises — making them one of the clearest examples of non-human sexual pleasure.

The Taste Test

Male giraffes headbutt females to make them urinate, then taste the urine to determine if she's fertile — a behavior called the Flehmen response.

Golden Showers of Love

Male porcupines woo females by standing on their hind legs and spraying them with urine from up to 6 feet away.

The World's Largest Orgies

When red-sided garter snakes emerge from hibernation, up to 75,000 gather in writhing 'mating balls' — some of the largest mating aggregations on Earth.

Love Through Poop Spraying

Male hippos court females by spinning their tails like propellers while defecating, spraying feces in all directions to spread their scent.

Voluntary Cannibalism

Male redback spiders actively somersault into the female's fangs during mating — being eaten doubles their paternity success.

Sex So Intense It's Fatal

Male antechinus mate so frantically for 2-3 weeks that they die from stress — their fur falls out, they become blind, and their immune system collapses.

The Most Stressful Handoff

Emperor penguin parents must transfer their egg from mom to dad in -40°C weather — if it touches the ice for too long, the embryo dies.

Seven Seconds in Heaven

Chimpanzee copulation lasts an average of just 7 seconds — about as long as it takes to read this sentence.

50 Times a Day for Days

When a female lion is in heat, she may mate with the male up to 50 times per day for 4-5 days straight — totaling 200+ copulations.

Sex as a Social Tool

Bonobos have sex multiple times per day in various combinations — male-female, female-female, even adult-juvenile — using it to resolve conflicts, reduce tension, and strengthen bonds.

Snow Monkey Solo Sessions

Japanese macaques frequently masturbate — both males and females — and researchers have documented them using tools and creative techniques.

Nature's Interior Designers

Male bowerbirds build elaborate structures decorated with colorful objects to attract females — some even use forced perspective to create optical illusions.

Tiny Dancing Machine

Male peacock spiders perform elaborate dances while flashing brilliant colors — but if the female isn't impressed, she'll eat him.

The Red Balloon Display

Male frigatebirds inflate a massive red throat pouch to the size of a balloon, then sit for hours hoping females flying overhead will be impressed.

Inflatable Pink Nose

Male hooded seals inflate their nasal cavity into a pink balloon AND can blow a red membrane out of one nostril — both used to impress females.

The Exploding Chest Display

Male sage-grouse gather at traditional 'leks' before dawn, inflating yellow chest sacs and making bizarre popping sounds to compete for females.

Synchronized Light Shows

In some firefly species, thousands of males synchronize their flashes perfectly — creating waves of light that roll through the forest.

The Moonwalking Bird

Male red-capped manakins perform a rapid 'moonwalk' — sliding backwards along branches so fast it looks like they're gliding.

26 Facts