This post is a sequence to Beaver observation – Jan 10, 2024.
On the morning of Jan 15 (to be more precise, at night, at about 2.30 am), I observed two adult beavers (very large) on an ice sheet in the riparian forest.
Firstly, I had seldom seen adults together (unless parted by several metres).
Mostly, the ‘social combinations’ of beavers have included an adult and a kit foraging side by side (or the adult foraging and the kit fidgeting nearby).
These two adults were sitting side by side and I additionally found it peculiar that they were not feeding (no munching on branches sounds were heard).
They were not obtaining food, either, because they were located on the ice closer to the middle of the river than to the shore.
I watched them for some time and then as I walked on, unfortunately, they noticed me and they swam upstream where they similarly located themselves on ice not that close to the shore and stayed side by side.
This was when I recalled it was beaver mating season.
These beavers were not mating (copulating) but I thought they were perhaps strengthening their bond by allogrooming or just hanging out together (I could not observe finer details due to lack of light).
Later (at about 5 am already) I saw the subadult of their family (possibly yearling) about 1 km downstream, on its own, foraging neatly by the shore on the ice.
This gave further evidence to my theory that perhaps the adults are now engaged in their mutual courtship and the subadult (who might be given certain aspirations by its own hormonal state) might be spending more time on its own contemplating the future prospects (of dispersal).
Currently, dispersal would be troublesome due to the river still being covered in ice for much of its length but it seems to me that the subadult is considering the move and also trying out what it means to be solitary and to explore.
The kit was nowhere seen.
The temperatures were around zero (possibly above zero) and I suppose the kit was not sleeping in den but I did not get to observe it.
I find it curious that the adult beavers really tried to get away from the shore and out on the open ice for their bonding activity.
They had been on the ice toward the middle of the river when I first saw them and after they had relocated, once more, they situated themselves similarly respective to shore vs. river.
The riverbank there is rather steep and it looms very closely over the water.
Perhaps the courtship rituals demand for some freedom of movement that cannot be achieved in the shrubs or right on the water edge.
However, I did not observe any ‘dancing around’, and altogether I began suspecting that perhaps the selectivity for the site was psychological.
I have seen videos of beaver courtship which is frequently carried out in water and the location on open ice might substitute for open water under these freezing conditions.
On the other hand, I cannot imagine that beavers in Latvia (where most winters, historically, used to be quite cold) would have developed courtship rituals that demand for vast areas of open water because their mating season coincides with the period of the highest probability of thick cover of ice.
The ice between the middle of the river and the shore is currently more stable than the ice on the very shore because the temperatures have risen again and the ice sheets are parting from the bank.
Perhaps that was where ice could best hold two large adults side by side.
However, I cannot help feeling there was also something to it… maybe even territorial.
Beavers are highly territorial and one of the main tasks shared by the pair involves defending their home.
I feel as if these two beavers during their courtship did not want to hide somewhere by the shore where the view was restricted by shrubs and slopes.
I feel as if they wished to overlook their home, their stronghold and that the awareness of this possession and this responsibility was a part of their renewed bond and their renewed commitment.
It is also possible that during courtship beavers might become invested in the activities in a manner that is different from that of foraging and they might have a harder time keeping vigilant.
Accordingly, they might be choosing locations that are not as easily accessed by species which do not want swim in cold water because on the shore they might become distracted and unable to notice a predator’s presence timely enough.
With the ice cover, they would not be able to slip into the water as quickly because they would actually need to run some distance across the ice where there is an opening.
Thereby, they might, from early on, choose to court one another further from the shore and closer to open water.
Notes by Ieva 