Bunny Sex

                                                                        
Bunny sex is legendary; it has been a constant theme throughout human history because rabbits are associated with virile sexuality.  It is not so much that rabbits are always having sex and marathon intercourse (because they do not) but they are able to manifest such an awesome power of propagation.  For instance, in Tierro del Fueco four rabbits resulted in 30 million rabbits in seventeen years.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Bunny sex begins with the male (buck) being attracted to a female (doe).  The buck's testicles are full and bulging when he is virile, otherwise his testicles are absorbed into his abdomen.  In the wild, rabbits can be monogamous or polygamous, and during the winter do not mate.  In captivity the doe is always brought to the buck (because she is more territorial).  The doe lets the buck know when she is ready for intercourse.  The buck will circle the doe, show off his tail and underside, act crazy, and even urinate on the doe.  Bucks we have owned would circle us, and even try to mount our ankles before they were neutered.  It was quite funny.

When the buck finally gets a good mount on the doe, they have intercourse for about 20 seconds or so,  then he lets out a yelp when he has climaxed.  Because of having to be off his feet to accomplish this feat, the buck falls off the doe and rolls onto the ground.  Oftentimes this bunny sex ritual is repeated in a short period of time.  Throughout the centuries human observers of this mating ritual have found it very comical. 

Bunny sex is not all that pleasurable for the doe because to stay mounted the buck will press his claws into her fur, and may even bite down on her to hold on to his position. 


What makes for the rabbit’s prolific ability to reproduce is the doe’s being an “induced ovulator”.  This means she has intercourse first, then the egg is emitted for fertilization.  Her estrous cycle is actually about seven days but she appears constantly ready for mating.  The doe can even get pregnant the following day after delivering a litter (4 - 5 kits on the average).  Also, her gestation period is only about 30 days, plus she is sexually mature at four months for smaller rabbits and six months for larger rabbits.  Do the math and you can see how the Tierro del Fueco phenomenon took place. 

Large commercial rabbit mills in Europe have does that produce 50 kit’s a year, but anyone who really cares about the health of their doe will only allow three litters a year because of the drain on her body. 

As an aside, if the doe does not feel environmental circumstances are right she will re-absorb her offspring.  The embryos are not aborted but are re-asorbed  into her body.  Also, a doe has two cervexes, so theoretically she could be impregnated by two different bucks - theoretically.

The rabbit’s “culture” in the warren is organized around who is dominant and who is submissive.  Because of this does will mount other does, and even bucks in a ploy to gain dominance.      Bunny Sex Continued