. Ecology and behavior of the Manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Florida. Manatees; Mammals. Hartman—Manatee in Florida 101. Fig. 33. Courtship activity. Three adult males mouthing and embracing estrous female (drawn from photograph). For the most part, the courtship of bulls was relentless, forcing the cow into continuous flight. The bulls mouthed and embraced her back (Fig. 33), rode her when she surfaced (Figs. 34 and 35), and rolled upside down in an effort to approach her abdomen. The cow invariably rolled away from them, presenting her back to their advances. If a bull succeeded in nibbling
. Ecology and behavior of the Manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Florida. Manatees; Mammals. Hartman—Manatee in Florida 101. Fig. 33. Courtship activity. Three adult males mouthing and embracing estrous female (drawn from photograph). For the most part, the courtship of bulls was relentless, forcing the cow into continuous flight. The bulls mouthed and embraced her back (Fig. 33), rode her when she surfaced (Figs. 34 and 35), and rolled upside down in an effort to approach her abdomen. The cow invariably rolled away from them, presenting her back to their advances. If a bull succeeded in nibbling or grasping her underside, she escaped with a violent jackknife, which usually in- cited her escorts to more frenzied embraces. I have seen bulls knocked to the surface by the powerful thrusts of a cow's tail. I myself was once thrown clear of the water when a cow directly below me jackknifed in response to a bull mouthing her genital region. Sexually aroused bulls sometimes left the herd momentar- ily to court passing anestrous cows or to transfer their sexual drive to homosexual encounters. At the peak of courtship, estrous herds are frequently observed in shallow water a meter or less in depth. It is a popular conception in Florida that under these circumstances manatees are mating. It appears that, to the contrary, estrous cows seek shoals to evade their male escorts. A cow is less vulnerable in shallow water because it is more difficult for bulls to approach her underside. I have reason to believe that cows in estrus may even resort to stranding. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Hartman, Daniel Stanwood, 1941-. [Pittsburgh, Pa. ] : American Society of Mammalogists
Size: 2068px × 1208px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionbiodiversity, booksubjectmammals
