Posted By: sugarlope
Mature males will rape immature females - 03/10/10 09:21 PM
When I started breeding, there were many different ideas about breeding than there are today. And I am sure that in a decade things we say today may not always be 'truths' then either.
For instance, when I started breeding, I never heard the word 'rape' used in reference to gliders. It was common practice to introduce joeys at a young age and let them grow up together and breed when they were ready. If you introduced a joey female to an older male, it was suggested that she be separated, when she reached 5-6 months OOP, so she did not breed too early. (Typically, she would be separated until she was about 8 months OOP).
The word 'rape' was not thrown around until some years later, and I wonder if females breeding young got confused with the idea of violent, forced mating.
One of my girls, Lili was a young female introduced to an older male, her mate, Pascal. I decided to separate her when she was 4 months OOP (to be on the safe side), but she already had a lump in her pouch, so she wasn't separated. The timing of her joey coming OOP, put Lili at about 3 1/2 months OOP when she became pregnant. Lili and Pascal never fought, never even made a peep, and were always very affectionate with each other. She was a very young mother, and it ended up that I found out her entire line matured earlier than most (including her mother, brothers and her joeys).
I know many people 'humanize' their animals - I am certainly one on of them, and 'talk' for my animals often. But I also know that it's me and not them and that I am projecting my human emotions on them. Don't confuse this for meaning that I don't think they have feelings, I absolutely believe that they do, but I do not always think they feel the things we feel the same way we feel them.
I do think that biology and instinct strongly directs their behaviors, and when a female goes into heat, a male will try to mate her. I do not think that a male will 'sexually assault' (because that is what the word rape means) a young female just because he is bigger and stronger. Her heat cycle makes him interested and with some gliders, mating is rough (even fully mature adults give each other mating wounds, which I also do not think is 'rape').
If you pay close attention to an adult mating pair, the male often loses almost all interest in anything else (including eating) when a female is in heat around him, because it is a biological and instinctually driven response.
I know there are a host of opinions on this, so this is mine, let's hear yours.
For instance, when I started breeding, I never heard the word 'rape' used in reference to gliders. It was common practice to introduce joeys at a young age and let them grow up together and breed when they were ready. If you introduced a joey female to an older male, it was suggested that she be separated, when she reached 5-6 months OOP, so she did not breed too early. (Typically, she would be separated until she was about 8 months OOP).
The word 'rape' was not thrown around until some years later, and I wonder if females breeding young got confused with the idea of violent, forced mating.
One of my girls, Lili was a young female introduced to an older male, her mate, Pascal. I decided to separate her when she was 4 months OOP (to be on the safe side), but she already had a lump in her pouch, so she wasn't separated. The timing of her joey coming OOP, put Lili at about 3 1/2 months OOP when she became pregnant. Lili and Pascal never fought, never even made a peep, and were always very affectionate with each other. She was a very young mother, and it ended up that I found out her entire line matured earlier than most (including her mother, brothers and her joeys).
I know many people 'humanize' their animals - I am certainly one on of them, and 'talk' for my animals often. But I also know that it's me and not them and that I am projecting my human emotions on them. Don't confuse this for meaning that I don't think they have feelings, I absolutely believe that they do, but I do not always think they feel the things we feel the same way we feel them.
I do think that biology and instinct strongly directs their behaviors, and when a female goes into heat, a male will try to mate her. I do not think that a male will 'sexually assault' (because that is what the word rape means) a young female just because he is bigger and stronger. Her heat cycle makes him interested and with some gliders, mating is rough (even fully mature adults give each other mating wounds, which I also do not think is 'rape').
If you pay close attention to an adult mating pair, the male often loses almost all interest in anything else (including eating) when a female is in heat around him, because it is a biological and instinctually driven response.
I know there are a host of opinions on this, so this is mine, let's hear yours.