Sealing Off Genitals: The Bizarre Story of Rat Sex

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chastity belts aren't just a terrible contraption that medieval men used to ensure abstinence in their female partners they're also prevalent in the animal kingdom in the form of mating plugs the most common use of mating plugs in mammals like rats is for a male to fortify his female fortress against invasions of foreign sperm aka any sperm that isn't his male rats have a few tricks that serve to increase the likelihood of their own reproductive success even after they've had sex with a female when a rat ejaculates in addition to sperm he will deliver an amorphous material with a very sinister function this blobby gel like plug starts off in liquid form and fills a female's vagina blocking it off to minimize sperm competition from other males basically sealing the deal as if having your genitals gummed up with some kind of sticky substance wasn't enough mating plugs can also contain appeasement substances which are chemical cues that serve to decrease a female's sexual receptivity in other words the mating clog works to block a female from future sexual encounters both physically and psychologically the whole notion of mate plugging seems horribly unfair to females and frankly and a lot of cases it is however where there's a will there's a way and males that have not yet had the opportunity to mate with a specific plugged female will often work tirelessly to dislodge her current plug before calculating and then depositing one of their own a female herself may also groom out a meeting plug by repeatedly licking chewing or consuming it directly it is high in protein after all a female that is happy with her sexual partner may actually be on board with having her vagina sealed up indeed females sometimes solicit something called post ejaculatory mounting from their male partners which involves mounting not sex and gives the plug more time to harden while protecting it from being displaced by another male as the female gives birth the plug is also pushed out and she is once again free to mate and be replugged again and again and again can't get enough videos about animals then check this one out from our friends at the dodo don't forget to subscribe and keep coming back to seeker for more videos [Music]