View source for Gerbilling

{{dablink|For a hazard relating to piloting a monowheel, see [[Monowheel#Other issues|monowheel gerbiling]]}}
[[File:2008-02-16 Mongolian gerbil.jpg|thumb|right|Gerbils are the most common rodents to be allegedly inserted.]]
'''Gerbilling''', also known as '''gerbil stuffing''' or '''gerbil shooting''', is a rumoured [[human sexual behavior|sexual practice]] of inserting small live animals (usually [[gerbil]]s but also [[mouse|mice]], [[hamster]]s, [[rat]]s and various other [[rodents]]) into the human [[rectum]] to obtain stimulation. Some variations of reports suggest that the rodent be covered in a psychoactive substance such as cocaine prior to being inserted.

==Overview==
According to folklorist [[Jan Harold Brunvand]], accounts of gerbilling were first recorded in 1984 and initially were said to involve a mouse and an unidentified man. In subsequent versions of the story, the animal was a gerbil and the story applied to several male celebrities.<ref name="snopes">{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.asp |title=From Gere to eternity |date=2001-11-18|author=Barbara and David P. Mikkelson|work=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages]]|publisher=[[snopes.com]]|accessdate=February 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Brunvand2001a">{{Cite encyclopedia|article=The Colo-Rectal Mouse|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/81 81]|author=[[Jan Harold Brunvand|Brunvand, Jan Harold]]|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Urban Legends|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57607-076-5|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/81}} {{ISBN|9781576070765}}</ref> Rumors surrounding various male celebrities engaging in gerbilling have become persistent urban legends.<ref name="snopes"/><ref name="Brunvand2001b">{{Cite encyclopedia|article=Gerbiling|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/166 166]|author=[[Jan Harold Brunvand|Brunvand, Jan Harold]]|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Urban Legends|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57607-076-5|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/166}} {{ISBN|9781576070765}}</ref><ref name="about">{{cite web |url=http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/library/blbyol4.htm |title=Gerbilling Mishap Injures Two |publisher=About.com |accessdate=September 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428204012/http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blbyol4.htm |archive-date=April 28, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As of the mid-1980s, there were no reports in peer-reviewed medical literature describing gerbilling among the variety of [[rectal foreign object]]s removed from people's bodies.<ref name="Straight_Dope">Adams, Cecil (1986). "[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/478/is-it-true-what-they-say-about-gerbils Is It True What they Say About Gerbils?]" ''The Straight Dope'', March 28, 1986.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Busch | first1 = D. B.
| last2 = Starling | first2 = J. R.
| title = Rectal foreign bodies: case reports and a comprehensive review of the world's literature
| journal = Surgery
| volume = 100
| issue = 3
| pages = 512–519
| year = 1986
| pmid = 3738771
}}</ref>

Mike Walker, a ''[[National Enquirer]]'' gossip columnist, spent months attempting to verify the gerbilling rumors about a celebrity. "I've never worked harder on a story in my life," Walker told the ''[[Palm Beach Post]]'' in 1995. After much investigation, he was unable to find any evidence that a gerbilling incident ever happened: "I'm convinced that it's nothing more than an urban legend."<ref>{{cite book|title=L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels|last1=Young|first1=Paul|page=20|publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]]|year=2002|isbn=978-0312206468}}</ref>

[[Dan Savage]], a sex-advice columnist who frequently discusses unusual sexual practices, stated in 2013 that he has never received a first-hand or even a second-hand account of the practice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=16295662 |title=Gerbils? Again? |date=March 20, 2013 |author=Dan Savage |publisher=thestranger.com}}</ref>

According to the editors of [[Snopes.com]], gerbilling is an unverified and persistent urban legend.<ref name="snopes"/>

In the song "Fack" from his 2005 album ''[[Curtain Call: The Hits]]'', rapper [[Eminem]] recites a verse about gerbilling. "Now see that gerbil, grab that tube/stick it up my butt/let that little rascal nibble on my asshole".<ref>[http://www.complex.com/music/2013/03/the-50-grossest-rap-lyrics/eminem-fack/ Top 50 Grossest Rap Lyrics] [[Complex.com]] (03/27/2013)</ref>

A February 2015 episode of ''[[Family Feud]]'' featured a woman who immediately answered "a gerbil" when host [[Steve Harvey]] asked "Name something a doctor would pull out of a person." The response produced prolonged laughter from the audience and a stunned silence from Harvey; even the other contestant at the podium burst out laughing over her response. The clip of the scene from the episode quickly went [[Viral video|viral]].<ref>[http://fox13now.com/2015/02/12/she-said-what-possibly-the-most-awkward-answer-ever-shouted-on-game-show/ She said what? Possibly the most awkward answer ever shouted on game show] [[KSTU]] (02/12/2015)</ref>

In their song ''[[Ich Tu Dir Weh]]'' from the album ''[[Liebe ist für Alle Da]]'', the German metal band [[Rammstein]] refers to this practice: "Wünsch' dir was ich sag' nicht nein / Und führ' dir Nagetiere ein." which translates into "What you wish, I don't say no / And insert rodents into you."<ref>https://lyricstranslate.com/fr/ich-tu-dir-weh-i-hurt-you.html</ref> Furthermore, while performing on stage, the band's singer [[Till Lindemann]] occasionally resorts to suggestive gestures that make the meaning of the lyrics quite explicit.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XfJEhGlCzc</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Sodomy]]
* [[Zoophilia]]

== References ==
<references/>

== Further reading ==
* <!-- ref name=Dresser1994 -->{{cite journal|title=The Case of the Missing Gerbil|author=Norine Dresser|date=July 1994|volume=53|issue=3|pages=229–242|jstor=1499810|journal=Western Folklore}}
* <!-- ref name=Snopes2001 -->{{cite web|url=http://snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.asp|title=From Gere to Eternity|date=2001-11-18|author=Barbara and David P. Mikkelson|work=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages]]}}
* <!-- ref name=StraightDope1986 -->{{cite news|url=http://straightdope.com/columns/read/478/is-it-true-what-they-say-about-gerbils|title=Is it true what they say about gerbils?|date=1986-03-28|author=Cecil Adams|work=[[The Straight Dope]]}}
* <!-- ref name=Vorpagel1988 -->{{cite journal|author=Becky Vorpagel|year=1988|title=A rodent by Any Other Name: Implications of a Contemporary Legend|journal=International Folklore Review|volume=6|pages=53–57}}
* <!-- ref name=Hu2012 -->{{cite web|url=http://www.theawl.com/2012/11/a-complete-history-of-gerbiling-so-far|title=A Complete History Of Gerbiling So Far|date=2012-11-19|author=Jane Hu|work=[[The Awl]]}}
* Plaintiffs' Response, Conseco Services, L.L.C., v. Alexander, 2009 WL 2492186 (D.Kan.)(case where former employee created websites that suggested other employees utilized gerbils as a sexual prop). [https://ecf.ksd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2009cv2130-169 Court Order]

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606130455/http://larvatus.livejournal.com/234912.html A study of felching and gerbiling in language, culture, and popular imagination.]

{{Sexual urban legends}}

[[Category:Anal eroticism]]
[[Category:Gerbils]]
[[Category:Sexual urban legends]]
[[Category:Zoophilia]]