Merlin the Magician
At the Start
Women are not the only ones who prefer sex in the dark
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 04/08/2005)
A study of badgers' mating habits has found that, like many women, they prefer to have sex in the dark.
During a new moon, female badgers are "tolerant or indifferent" to the advances of males and, when the moon is full, they become actively hostile.
But during the darker phase, from the last quarter to the first quarter of the lunar cycle, they are more amorous and mate far more frequently.
Dr David Dixon, a biologist who made the discovery, said: "A possible evolutionary driver for this link with the lunar cycle is that badgers spend a long time copulating - 90 minutes or more is not unusual.
"This means that in the past, amorous badgers may have been at considerable risk from attack by wolves, lynx, or bears unless they restricted their mating activities to when the countryside was cloaked in darkness."
Dr Dixon, who writes about his research in next month's BBC Wildlife Magazine, filmed a group of 12 badgers in Plymouth at night over a period of three years.
He noticed that the frequency with which the nocturnal mammals left scent marks, designed to communicate sexual availability, varied substantially with the lunar cycle.
While males left more scent marks overall, they did so far more during dark lunar phases, whereas many females only left chemical signals when there was less moonlight. Attempts to mate when the moon was full were often strongly rebuffed by females.
Last year, a survey revealed that one in five women feels uncomfortable undressing within sight of her husband or boyfriend and a similar proportion also refuses to have sex when the lights are left on.
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 04/08/2005)
A study of badgers' mating habits has found that, like many women, they prefer to have sex in the dark.
During a new moon, female badgers are "tolerant or indifferent" to the advances of males and, when the moon is full, they become actively hostile.
But during the darker phase, from the last quarter to the first quarter of the lunar cycle, they are more amorous and mate far more frequently.
Dr David Dixon, a biologist who made the discovery, said: "A possible evolutionary driver for this link with the lunar cycle is that badgers spend a long time copulating - 90 minutes or more is not unusual.
"This means that in the past, amorous badgers may have been at considerable risk from attack by wolves, lynx, or bears unless they restricted their mating activities to when the countryside was cloaked in darkness."
Dr Dixon, who writes about his research in next month's BBC Wildlife Magazine, filmed a group of 12 badgers in Plymouth at night over a period of three years.
He noticed that the frequency with which the nocturnal mammals left scent marks, designed to communicate sexual availability, varied substantially with the lunar cycle.
While males left more scent marks overall, they did so far more during dark lunar phases, whereas many females only left chemical signals when there was less moonlight. Attempts to mate when the moon was full were often strongly rebuffed by females.
Last year, a survey revealed that one in five women feels uncomfortable undressing within sight of her husband or boyfriend and a similar proportion also refuses to have sex when the lights are left on.
Doh
