Is she or isn't she?
- Alistair
- Mar 29
- 2 min read
Doris and Steve were released into our beaver enclosure least spring, around 11 months ago, just before the end of April 2025. They had just the road trip from Devon to Ceredigion to become acquainted. Despite Steve’s Houdini like skills (you’ll remember that he was named Steve after Steve McQueen in that movie epic, The Great Escape) they were still in separate cages when they arrived in Wales, so it was a pretty limited interaction.
They were then released separately into the enclosure here at Cefn Garthenor, to allow for a supposedly more natural introduction. Hardly a case of Channel 4’s Naked Attraction, given Doris had precisely one option. Many might argue we might all look better in fur, but either way, Steve and Doris seemed to have become friendly.
We regularly see Doris and Steve together, often swimming around their ever-increasing water world, with new dams being created and existing ones constantly expanded. They certainly seem happy in each other’s company.
But will they breed? A question I am often asked. And if so, when? And with what result. Well, here are the basics. Beavers tend to be monogamous, often together for life, or certainly until a partner dies. They typically get it together over the winter period, so December through February. The gestation period is around 3 to 4 months and they usually have around 3 or 4 kits. So, if kits are to arrive, we might expect this to happen between March to June.
We check the beaver enclosures a few times and week, and Jess spends time going through the footage from the camera traps. Anything interesting is shared with a group of people who know more than me (not difficult), including Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer at The Beaver Trust. A few weeks ago, we shared a video or Steve and Doris looking pretty cosy. We have never, actually, been able to tell them apart. But on this occasion, one looked, well, like they’d put a fair bit of weight on. Pregnant perhaps? And the other went off to chop a tree down. Terrible gender stereotyping, but could it be that Steve was chopping and could Doris be in the family way?
Time will tell …
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