# Mammals take 21 seconds to evacuate bladders; is there a similar time for coitus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313 "2016-09-08T02:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/1 "2016-09-08T02:00:59Z")
According to several [reports](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2013/10/17/regardless-bladder-size-mammals-urinate-approximately-21-seconds/#.V9DFxPkrKM8), regardless of their size, mammals take on average 21 seconds to evacuate their bladder. You might try timing yourself! Is there also an average length of time of coitus for mammals? Could there be any reason for these two to be related? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/2 "2016-09-08T02:07:27Z")
Yeah, I’m a healthy male and I generally take much longer than 21 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/3 "2016-09-08T02:13:45Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Is there also an average length of time of coitus for mammals? No, not in any meaningful sense. Compare a canid like a wolf where a physical tie can last for half an hour vs. seconds for a rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/4 "2016-09-08T11:16:05Z")
I don’t know that the average tells us all that much in this case. The standard deviation is 13 seconds, which means the actual numbers have to cover a pretty wide range. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/5 "2016-09-14T18:42:26Z")
The difference is that my wife doesn’t care how long it takes me to pee. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/6 "2016-09-14T20:03:27Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The difference is that my wife doesn’t care how long it takes me to pee. > > Regards, > Shodan Thanks for letting us know there’s at least one kink you and your wife don’t have. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/7 "2016-09-14T22:44:36Z")
Horse - seconds. Lion - days. I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/8 "2016-09-14T23:40:08Z")
And another thing which might suggest no correlation with anything is that while a sloth does practically everything extremely slowly: > [@](#): > > There is only one thing that sloths do with amazing speed, and that is sex. Sloth females come into heat about once a year and they let the whole neighborhood know it. Normally a sloth’s voice sounds like the hiss of a deflating balloon ; a lady sloth in heat screams continually until a male finds her or her season passes. > > She doesn’t even leave her own tree; she just waits for a suitor to arrive. Then, once a gentleman makes his way up to her, it is basically first come first served without any posturing or foreplay. > > In fact, the whole experience from first contact to completion of deed may only be a matter of seconds. In some species the male may stay for a day or two and there may be several matings, but in other species the male departs right after a single 6 second act of intercourse. [https://www.feedtheweb.click/10-weird-wonderful-sloth-facts/](https://www.feedtheweb.click/10-weird-wonderful-sloth-facts/) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/9 "2016-09-15T00:17:53Z")
Actually, length of time for insemination is more definable, and perhaps correlated in a sensible manner to body type or physiology of the male. Then throw in insemination time being different than “orgasm time” and things get difficult again. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammals-take-21-seconds-to-evacuate-bladders-is-there-a-similar-time-for-coitus/765313/10 "2016-09-16T05:38:37Z")
I don’t see how that average of 21 seconds to urinate can be accurate. I know personally that I take considerably longer than I did as a teenager 50 years ago! Unless that ‘average’ is a mean average, with a big range of variability.