Yesterday we started watching a new group -- blue. It's one of the largest of the ring-tailed groups and tends to range throughout the degraded areas, at least during the dry season. We found them relatively early, and quickly found that one of our focal animals was super, super sexy. When I looked up and saw here, all I could thing of was how giant her vulva was -- it was so big that every time I saw her I thought she was trying to crap (which is also exciting for me, I'm not gonna lie). She had just come back into estrous. Ring-tailed lemurs are typically 'synchronous' in their estrous. Mating is usually confined to about a 7-10 day period once per year (here, early May). I used to pity them their once yearly sexual escapades, but after seeing yesterday I think that once per year might be too many times if you're a ring-tailed lemur.
Even though there's the whole once per year rule, occasionally if females don't get pregnant the first time around (or lose the fetus), then they'll come into a second estrous, which is what our girl had done. Whether or not the infants fare any better or worse isn't clear (probably worse, but who knows considering the 50-65% mortality rate). But it doesn't mean that there can't be excitement.
Exciting or annoying is what it was. The supreme sexitude of our girl was so much that the males had no idea what to do with themselves. It was like the worst-case scenario of last call at a bar and a frat party rolled into one. The males were all chasing each other around, scent marking everywhere, unti after an hour or so a new suitor would emerge. Our girl seemed to take a shine to one or two males into particular and she let them copulate -- but it's not so simple with 5 other guys around who want in on the action. A suitor would assume the position, just to get up 2 seconds later to chase of someone who had come too close (within 15 meters). He'd come back and give it another shot, just to run off 5 seconds later to chase another male off. Then all hell would break loose and they would all chase each other around, screaming, cuffing, and bouncing off of trees. These females have way more patience than I would generally give them credit for.
This was amusing. For about 10 minutes.
Luckily, yesterday's shenanigans were over today, and all was calm for the day's observations. I'm glad that I'm really not that interested in mating behavior because it's crazy in these guys. Too much testosterone cycling up and down.
On the up side, A and I found a complete dog skeleton today. Complete = including the baculum. It was the first baculum (penis bone that most mammals have) I've ever found. I'm really proud of it and just now it occured to me that maybe it might make a nice necklace?
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