Animal Semen FAQ
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Animal Semen and Related Obscure Information Guide
You've seen it in videos, photos of it in vials, but ever wonder what the stuff is like up close? This write up is for you, and is meant to provide some hard-to-find information particularly in regards to male animals and dispel some myths.
First of all, an animal's semen may be collected by various means. One way is to simulate anal sex by using an electrified dildo having two electrical terminals with an adjustable small voltage across them inserted into the rectum to stimulate the prostate by inducing muscle contractions. Electro ejaculation requires special equipment and possibly tranquilizers. Another way is to manually stimulate the male (jack them off). Another way is to tease the male with the urine from a female in heat and attempt to have the male mount a decoy or divert the penis into an artificial vagina. Another is to simply let them mate with a female.
Anatomy
All mammals described have testicles that produce sperm, but the organs that produce the seminal liquid vary as does the composition. Some animals have a prostate, others not, others have a cowper's gland or equivalent, and others not, etc. The structure of the internal organs can provide clues on the composition of an animal's semen.
Testis are usually in a pouch external to the body, to keep the temperature of the sperm lower than the body temperature, but in some species, such as elephants, the testis are internal just under the skin.
Appearance
The semen of fertile mammals is normally milky in color. The seminal fluid is mostly transparent and the sperm reflect light, making the semen appear white. Whiteness can be caused by other factors such as coagulated proteins or white blood cells in the seminal liquid, but normally, the whiteness is from the presence of sperm.
Composition
There are varying amounts of citric acid, fructose, sodium, chloride, potassium based on species. Despite having DNA and albumin, semen is not a significant dietary source of protein. A human ejaculate is a significant dietary source of zinc, however.
Some species may produce gelatinous sperm plugs made from proteins (boars, equines) or a waxy substance made of lipids (rodents, reptiles).
Urine may be present in the sample, and should be rejected for use in artificial insemination if it is contaminated. Urine may be detected by smelling the sample, and if it has a strong odor, it should be discarded.
Spermatozoa
Larger species of animals have shorter sperm than other animals in the same family, and the length is roughly inversely proportional to the body mass. Honey possums are very small and their sperm are about the width of a human hair, much longer than a human's sperm.
Arousal
Animals benefit from foreplay just like people do. To increase the pleasure of an animal and the length of orgasm, get them riled up, panting, wagging and happy (or appropriate responses for the species) before collecting their semen.
Non-domesticated Animals
Non-domesticated animals in temperate environments may be sexually receptive only during part of a year, and the testicles will shrivel up when out-of-season. That happens regardless if they are in the wild or kept in captivity. Most sexual activity will occur just before spring so that the young will grow during parts of the year when food is most plentiful.
Consumption
A penis should taste like clean skin. If it does not, it needs to be washed. Use warm water without soap, taking care that the sensitivity of the entire length of an animal's penis may be as sensitive as an uncircumcised man's glans. Cleaning the inside of the sheath can be done by lightly pinching the sheath opening during urination so that the sheath balloons with urine.
Taste is affected by diet to a degree. Compounds in the diet that cause body odor are also present in bodily fluids such as semen. Some species have a systemic musk that circulates through their blood stream and is present on their bodies and in their other fluids. It will be present to some extent in their sexual fluids.
Fun fact: alcohol that has been consumed will be present in the semen of the consumer.
Mammalian semen usually tastes similar to human semen. There is one major exception known: dog semen has been reported having a metallic taste in some animals.
The first few times after swallowing cum, a tingling sensation may be felt in the back of the throat. This is normal and goes away after a few times. Once that's happened, you've lost your oral virginity.
Allergies to semen, including to a human's, are common, apparently roughly as common as peanut allergies (although there is limited data available for obvious reasons). Check for allergies first by checking for reactions on skin, then on lips, until ready.
Urination
It is possible to encourage an animal to pee by pressing gently on the bladder, which may be useful for potty training. This works on people too, try it on yourself.
Fun fact: Sodium deficiency leads to thirst for urine. If an animal hasn't been getting enough sodium in their diet, they will be more likely to drink or lick up their own pee.
Fun fact #2: In certain kinds of diabetes, excess sugar is present in urine, and tasting the urine was a traditional way of diagnosing the condition. That technique has been superceded by composition analysis techniques which are safer to perform and more accurate.
Bears
A bear penis has a bone in it. When the penis is soft, the bone is pulled into the body and the penis pulls up close to the body, and visible as a stub with the excess skin crumpled up around it. When semi-erect, the bone juts the penis out to full length, the tip round (like the head of a human's penis) due to the shape of the tip of the penis bone. Fully erect, the flesh at the tip engorges and flares out looking similar to the flare of a horse's penis.
Mating normally takes 10 - 20 minutes. In male bears that fellate themselves or other male bears, ejaculation may occur after only 3 or 4 minutes of stimulation.
Their semen is milky not unlike a human's in appearance.
The color (pink or black) of the penises of polar bears has been widely debated, and there are only a limited number of low resolution pictures of their penises available on the internet. I believe the outcome has been reported that their penises are pink like other bears.
Bulls
A bull's penis is very long, looking much like a carrot. Ejaculation occurs when the animal thrusts forward once and produces a powerful single squirt. Taste is like watered down, grassy, human semen.
Bulls can ejaculate up to about a half dozen times in a row and still produce plenty of sperm, although the sperm count drops after each ejaculation. A typical ejaculate is about 4 ml and can contain approximalty 3 billion sperm. A bull produces about 5 billion sperm per day, but can store them up, and can release 100 billion sperm over about a dozen ejaculates over the course of an hour or two.
Cats
Many species of felines, but not all species, have barbs (also called spines). Intact domestic male cats have barbs. The barbs are approximately the same roughness as the bumps on their tongues. Cats change between soft and erect quickly during sexual arousal. Their penises point downward normally (towards the ground when standing on all fours) when soft and boing forward (towards their head) during an erection. Felines will lick their penises for sexual gratification. The licks are different from that of lapping up water or grooming, and instead are repetitive licks in the same exact spot with a consistant tempo.
Domestic cats produce small amounts of semen, on the order of droplets. Taste can be strong for the volume.
Deer
Similar to a bull's.
Dogs
A dog's penis is very smooth, moreso than a human's, as evidenced by the sheen in photos of them. Male dogs orgasm for many minutes per copulation, with many squirts of great volume at the beginning, then with less volume and frequency. Next, they ejaculate some milky sperm rich fluid for a brief time, and ejaculate finally ejaculate some mostly clear fluid at the end. Ejaculation pattern varies by breed.
Male dogs respond by manual manipulation. Stroking behind the knot while they are sheathed, or by simply pushing back the sheath to expose their penis, they will become quickly aroused. The sheath should be pulled back fully to prevent the knot from expanding inside the sheath. Once erect, turning their penis 180 degrees by pulling their penis through their legs will simulate a knotted mating position (butt to butt with the female). The entire penis is as sensitive as the glans on a man's penis, and the entire exposed surface should be kept moist. The yellowish goo seen at the tip of the sheath is similar to the goo that's found at the corners of eye lids.
The taste of dog semen has been described as metallic, like the taste of blood, nails, sucking on a penny, or sticking a 9v battery to the tongue. There may be a woodsy or slight smokey note to it. Not all dogs have a metallic taste to them, and the strength of the metallicness reportedly does not vary based on diet or breed or state of intactness, but on individual.
The metallic taste may be caused by a non-essential component of the semen, such as a musk that dogs smell but humans perceive only as a taste.
Bitch milk is said to taste sweet. Beware of worm eggs in dog milk. Pasteurization is advised.
From articwolf regarding dog semen:
"My impression based on many dozens of samples, is similar but more complex then can be truly explained, there is also a sweet taste to most, some being really sweet, a few almost had a woodsy or slight smoke type taste, perhaps musky is a better word. A few seemed to have what i guess was a bit of gamey or wild taste. ... Yet there is still more to it then i know how to put in words.
Some dogs squirt almost like a dribble, some with real force that feels like a big squirt gun when you was a kid squirting it in your mouth, feeling it hit the back of your throat."
Dolphins
Can squirt far (a foot or more), but definitely not as forcefully dangerous as some documents have exaggerated.
There is only one known description of its taste "tastes like milkshake", which is a rather fanciful description. A research paper analyses the taste of dolphin semen, in the context of dolphins able to sense the presence of other dolphins, however, the aromatic compounds listed in the paper won't be familiar to those whom have not experienced the compounds in their pure state.
Dolphin milk is said to taste unpleasantly chalky.
Foxes
Genitals are very similar to a dog's both internally and externally. Musk is present within the sheath. Semen is similar to a dog's in appearance. One description says it has a musk to it and the same thing for vixens.
Goats
Semen volume is approximately 0.2 to 2.5 milliliters, average around 1 ml, is sperm-rich (around 3 billion sperm per milliliter), and is said to have a bitter taste when in rut similar to their scent, but it tastes more like pre-cum when out of season. They can ejaculate again after a short rest (minutes between ejaculations). Goat ejaculate is very similar to a ram's, see the section on Rams for more information. Goat semen has an enzyme that coagulates egg yolks, unlike a ram's.
Goats are unique in that they urinate frequently (scent mark their beards, mouths, and forelegs) before, between, and after matings. Semen samples are more likely to be contaminated by urine than that of other species.
Fun fact: male goats have nipples on their ballsacs.
Horses
The tip of the horse's penis flares just before orgasm, much like a human's does, but much wider, and the horse ejaculates several shots of sperm in a few seconds time, much like a human but with greater volume, approximately 100ml. Horses are normally collected by being teased by the scent of a mare and diverting them to penetrate a decoy or an artificial vagina. They may be collected without a decoy, using only stimulation from a warm hand using the crump method.
A horse's sheath may collect smegma in the form of a roundish shape, also called a bean. The horse's penis should be cleaned before collecting a semen sample.
Taste is like watered down, grassy, human semen. Contains varying amounts of gel lumps intermixed with the liquid semen.
Pigs
Unusual corkscrew penis with a screw that runs in clockwise direction. Starting with a fingertip near the base of the corkscrew and the tip pointing towards you, moving the finger around in a clockwise direction will lead to the tip. Sheath contains an internal pocket called a preputial sac that collects foul-smelling smegma, and must be cleaned out prior to collection to avoid contamination and foul odors.
Semen is voluminous and has a thick, gel like component, although the part containing the sperm itself is quite thin. The first squirts of semen is thick and strong gamey tasting. The tapioca pearl-like gel at the end of ejaculation has little flavor to it. The rest of the semen is similar to a human's. An entire boar ejaculate contains about an entire day's worth of zinc.
Matings last up to 15 minutes and involve several ejaculations and rests without withdrawal. Pressure must be exerted to the tip of the penis in order to sustain ejaculation. That can be done by squeezing the tip between the thumb and pointer fingers.
Young boars should be taught how to have their semen collected and shouldn't be taught how to mount, otherwise they can become dangerous. If they become used to mounting, they will not be able to achieve orgasm any other way, and can become very frustrated if they are not relieved daily. This can be an issue when they grow up and weigh twice as heavy (or more) than an average person.
Rams
Penis has a dangly bit (urethral process) at the tip which causes fluid to spritz everywhere. Mating and ejaculation occurs very quickly similar to bulls. Like bulls, they can ejaculate sperm many times in a row. Ejaculate is approximately 1ml (0.7 - 2ml) and is very sperm-rich, around three billion sperm per ejaculate. Sperm volume is approximately 1/3 to 1/4 the total volume of an ejaculate (!) when centrifuged. An ejaculate has about 15-20ml of glycerylphosphorylcholine and "brain-booster" caplets of it (produced artificially using vegetable sources) are sold over the counter as Alpha-GPC, which raises a question: can rams improve mind performance? Ram ejaculate is very similar to a goat's, see the section on Goats for more information.
Vasectomy
Affects appearance (less cloudy) but doesn't affect taste.
Glossary
Theriogenology - Study of animal breeding
Manual/tactile/digital stimulation/manipulation/collection - In the context of breeding literature, that means jacking off an animal, as opposed to using electro ejaculation
Biochemistry of semen - Chemical makeup of semen in the style of "Nutrition facts"
