Well it was fun while it lasted. The courtship began in early May, only two nights after the cameras last saw the mother and cubs together. The female was very excited and noisy and seemed to be leading the male on. The noisy phase lasted for three nights but my cameras are in only two positions and so we don't know what was going on elsewhere. As I reported last time the male and female otters were still going around together after eight nights and seemed very comfortable in each other's company.
After 13 nights they turned up again, still very much a couple, and 15 minutes later one of the cubs appeared, still calling for his mother.
Then after 19 days they were still together, this time in daylight, rolling around on all the willow catkins and looking very relaxed.
The last time I saw them together was 22 days after courtship began but this time one was chasing the other and I expect they have now gone their separate ways. It isn't easy to tell who is chasing who. The first one seems to have a broader head and so may be the male.
The cameras now show only single otters although on occasion they are only a few minutes apart.
Paul Chanin's book Otters says courtship lasts for "four or five days", after which they split up and resume a solitary existence. In previous years that is what I have seen on the trail cameras so the prolonged time these two spent together is a surprise. I think both cubs have now moved on and I no longer see a rather lost and squeaking otter. I hope new cubs will be born in July (the otter's gestation is 63 days) and I'll be looking out for them in October. News here when I have it.
they look very much in their honeymoon period
ReplyDeleteI loved the chirruping when they were rolling in the leaves together !
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