Great point, well said!
After reading all of these posts, I was trying to put my thoughts together in such a way as to convey what you just posted, only with a bunch of unnecessarily wordy words, and complex, multifaceted nuances in an attempt to impress only myself.
No need. You nailed it.
A parent beaver knows and recognizes its family members as well as they recognize themselves, most likely by smell.
No need to bite them (unless they acted like I did when I didn't listen to my mom).

One thing I have found interesting is that a few times here and there I don’t think the two year olds get driven off. I have cleaned out colonies where there were three or more huge beaver living together.

^^^ I have noticed the same thing once in a while. I thought maybe some of them were living nearby in bank dens, but sometimes there was no spot for a bank den and there was only one beaver house present.

This is a very interesting and educational thread.

I remember a colony where I caught 6 beavers and only one was a kit (about 15 lbs.) the others were all 35 lbs. or better. It was a pond on a small brook and had a single lodge. I don't remember any bank dens either.

As far as dispersal of young, I've caught kits in mink sets in places that had no sign anywhere nearby. Did they have wanderlust or were they just lost?

I am still going with the 2 year olds getting driven from the colony before the female gives birth but agree dispersal instinct could be a secondary factor. I don't think beaver often fight with their teeth. Has anyone ever caught a live beaver that would bite a stick? Or you? Caged and Hancock beaver I catch are usually very docile but an occasional adult will hiss and head butt the wire from the side I approach from. Never had one show their teeth. I think this aggressive behavior that Rally and 330 Trapper mentioned is all it takes for a 2 yr. old to feel unwelcome and leave the colony. Sure I've caught spring travelers that were severely damaged and I assume they were bitten up. But could it be sharp toe nails rather than bites? How many old scars on pelts are from close call escape damage from coyote, bobcat, birds of prey or even mechanical damage like submerge barbed wire, discarded broken cattle panels, etc.?

I'm thinking they're typical teenagers... They don't wanna babysit their younger siblings for free... And mama says if you don't like it you know where the door is.

Mike

4Fur,
I can't tell you how many beaver I've skun, that had perfect chop marks in them, from beaver bites. I,ve also seen live beaver that drug one of my snare poles up on the ice, send wolves away bleeding. Usually the other way around, but if the beaver can get there back into the hole that hasn't frozen yet, they are all business and not an easy meal.

Corner a beaver on land in the springtime and you will soon find out how aggressive they are-and fast.And yes,they can jump.

I have caught adults, two year olds, and yoy in isolated sub-alpine colonies where there wasn't really the possibility of the two year olds just wandering back and getting caught during the same season as the adults and yoy being caught. Maybe they were just driven off to a far corner of the colony.

Instinct's tell them .

My thoughts are that dispersal is probably instinctual and likely coincides with sexual maturity. Probably nature’s way of limiting inbreeding. There is no doubt in my mind that momma gets a little ornery when she’s getting near the end of her gestation. But I don’t think that is what prompts the dispersal.

Like Rally, I have noticed a higher catch rate on males during the spring dispersal. I wonder if male beaver mature sexually sooner than females??

At first ice off, there are very few bite marks but yet these beaver are clearly in the process of dispersing. As the season progresses, so does the amount of bite marks. I think all the battle wounds we see in the spring are from protecting/establishing territory not from getting kicked out of the house.

That's right beaver breeding season is during the winter. That is why you see less movement for a week or so. Dad and I trapped hundreds of beaver over the years and always had that slump in January.

Maybe it is the loins of the teenagers that is the sex driving them and not the parents, as often enough the 2 year olds help with the raising of the young. Would explain the 2 year olds not getting bit up.