The Courtship of Animals

by W. P. Pycraft

Plate 8.

Photo by courtesy of the Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey.

AMERICAN BISON

The “Secondary Sexual Characters” of the male are here conspicuously developed, and are seen in the massive fore-quarters and enormous head.

The Elands present some puzzling features, for both sexes bear large horns, and they are very massive in the bulls. Yet these animals are generally described as the most inoffensive of all the horned ruminants. That the horns are used to any extent in conflicts between rival males seems doubtful, inasmuch as this species is remarkable for the development of an enormous “dewlap,” a thin pendulous fold of skin which runs from the throat to the chest. Such a form of “ornament”—for in this light we must regard it—would be dangerous, indeed, when much fighting was to be done. Nevertheless, it would be contrary to all our experience to conclude that weapons so well developed as are the horns of the bull Eland were entirely useless. This is a matter which decidedly calls for further investigation.

That our knowledge of that most important period of life of the larger mammals, the period of sexual exaltation, is lamentably incomplete will be realized by anyone who seeks enlightenment on this subject. Most of the meagre information we possess has been collected by travellers and sportsmen, neither of whom have the time to devote to the long and laborious watches that a fuller history demands. Every now and then a glimpse is afforded of this period of the life-history which brings home in a very convincing fashion, how little is really known. It seems certain that the fighting hitherto described is to be regarded as but a phase of a cycle of events which takes place at this time. Thus, for example, the old naturalist and traveller Schweinfurth tells how he once encountered a herd of Hartebeest which were apparently effervescing with animal spirits, for they kept running around in couples, like horses in a circus, using a clump of trees as a pivot. Others, in groups of three or four, stood by, interested spectators. After a time these, in turn, took their places and ran round, two at a time, in their own circuit, and in the same fashion. Their evolutions, he says, were so regular as to suggest the guidance of some invisible ring-master. These gyrations may be regarded as an erotic dance. The Sambar, under like excitement, will stalk about with erected tail, outstretched muzzle and everted face glands, and the Black-buck, among the antelopes, behaves in like fashion.

It cannot be supposed that these quaint performances are peculiar to the species in which they have been observed, but rather it may be inferred that similar antics, besides others yet to be discovered, are performed by all. Their purpose seems plain enough, for they must be regarded surely as aphrodisiacs, excitants to pairing. They recall the erotic dances of savages, or the ceremonial orgies of ancient civilizations. Such performances, on an even more elaborate scale, are to be met with among the birds.

So far, in describing the horned ruminants, the horns only have been considered; but these animals display yet other secondary sexual characters, which, while less conspicuous, are yet no less important during this critical period of life. Some, as for instance the canine teeth possessed by some of the deer, are decidedly puzzling. While absent, or vestigial, in most, in a few they are greatly developed, and this, too, in species which possess relatively large horns, as in the Muntjac. It seems difficult to believe that the co-existence of these very different kinds of weapons can be of vital importance to their possessors; yet unless this be so, one or other would surely have degenerated. It is significant that in the hornless Musk-deer these teeth attain to a very considerable length, at their maximum as much as three inches. That they are used by rival males, and with effect, is shown by the fact that the hides of these animals are often found scored by deep lines cut by these tusks. In those aberrant ruminants, the Camels, quite formidable tusks are present both in the upper and lower jaws, and these are used with effect whenever occasion demands, and often when it does not.