Gonadal hormones and mounting behavior in the female rabbit

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Abstract
The sexual behavior of 155 adult female rabbits was studied. Thirty-nine mounted females, or males, or both. Mounting activity was generally coincident with the presence of large ovarian follicles, although not always coincident with estrous behavior. Ovariectomy suppressed mounting in nearly all cases. Estrous behavior persisted at least for 30 days in 15% of the spayed animals. Sexual activity (mounting and estrus) decreased significantly during pregnancy. Injections of estrogens or androgens, in large dosages, restored mounting in most spayed rabbits that mounted before ovariectomy. Hormonal treatment was usually ineffec -tive in eliciting mounting in rabbits that did not mount when intact. It is concluded that mounting is facilitated by ovarian secretions. However, mounting is primarily determined by the nature or state of the neural substrate upon which the hormones act, rather than by the amount of steroids administered or secreted by the ovaries.