Beavers mate for life and pairs usually breed every year. Beaver kids are born in June and share the beaver home, known as a lodge, with their parents and offspring from the previous year's litter. Beavers are kicked out quite forcefully when they reach two years old. Parent beavers will literally kill their offspring if they do not take the hint and leave. Young male beavers then seek a territory in which to set up home and advertise for a mate. They create sticky mud pies mixed with sticks and a dash of castoreum, oils secreted from a gland by their tails. This smelly architectural delight attracts females and if they like the look of what they see and smell a quick rub of the noses seals the deal for life. Widowed beavers will mate again and some will never mate. These so-called bachelors, males and females, live away from family groups and it is not known what causes them to remain solitary.
