Beaver reproduction

I caught a pair of depredation beaver. Male 47lb Female 39 lb. I wonder if they have any young hanging around. Does a females teats retreat in size to barely detectable by feel even if she nursed young in the spring?

this is something I have always struggled to figure out myself. Last year I was working a beaver damage case in October and there was a lot of damage. Night #1 I caught a 45 pound male in a crossover and never had one more ounce of sign there. I would have swore and bet money that there would have been a pair and a small litter at least. I continued to trap for a week and a half following the catch and there was zero sign of anything new and nothing ever arised later in the year. It was odd to me that it was only a lone male. On another hand i have caught 6 beaver on a creek where there was hardly any sign and only one small dam about 2 feet wide. It was hard to tell there was really anything there at all without getting down and checking out what the little log jam looked like. This is something that i need to get better at identifying and working on. Interested to see what others say on your question as it is something i surely dont know.

It is my understanding that most beaver kits are weaned by three weeks of age. I have seen beaver kits swimming around as early as mid April here. Below are a couple of pictures of local beavers.

Three generations: Adult female, one year old, that year kit. (Pictures were taken some years ago)



Smallest beaver kit that I have caught alive.

If she had young this spring tits would be more pronounced. Most likely new pairing this year.
Then again I am nothern and higher elevation

That's kind of what I was thinking Trapper Don. I am at 5200' and I believe kits are born starting about mid May.

Professor - long ago I caught some little ones like that in muskrat traps in November. After releasing them they wanted to play and when I shoved off they followed me for a ways in my canoe. After that they turned back for the big house.

Seems that if the teats are barely detectable this time of year that they have had no young in the spring. If they had a litter in spring they will be more noticeable throughout the summer even after they have stopped nursing. I guess how noticeable they are is related to how late the litter was born. They can be hand caught when they are the size of the little guy above as they can't go under water for long. They go down and pop right back up in less than a minute and don't go far. Luck of the draw, I managed to catch 5 in two days by hand a few years back, 3 at one location, 2 at the other. Actually lifted the last one out with the potato hook. They are very docile, don't even try to bite. Seem like live beanie babies.