Summer life at the Beaver Island
Longer days, busier beavers
The summer months are a fantastic time to join us on one of our popular Beaver Safaris, with both weekday and weekend tours available. With longer daylight hours, warmer temperatures and an abundance of natural food, our beavers are much busier and more active than they are during the winter months.
While beavers can never guarantee a performance, summer often provides some of the best opportunities to observe their natural behaviour as they make the most of the season’s plentiful resources.
A summer feast
Summer is a season of plenty for the beavers, with an abundance of food available in and around the lake. At this time of year, they move away from felling entire trees and instead opt for the easier option of browsing low-hanging branches from the safety of the water.
Although they continue to feed on lakeside trees such as willow, alder and beech, they also enjoy a much wider variety of seasonal foods. From water lilies and pondweed to grasses, rushes, sedges and bankside perennials, there isn’t much around the lake that won’t tempt them. The raspberries and brambles growing along the water’s edge are firm favourites, and we also tend to observe a greater variety of tree browsing during the warmer months, with cherry and oak becoming late-summer delicacies.
More than just feeding
Summer isn’t all about eating, though. It’s also a time for more leisurely activities, with beavers spending time grooming, playing and strengthening social bonds, all while continuing to build up their reserves for the months ahead.
Watching family groups interact during the summer months offers a wonderful insight into the social lives of these fascinating animals and reminds us that there’s much more to beaver behaviour than simply building dams and felling trees.
How do beavers cope with hot weather?
One of the questions we’re most often asked on our Beaver Safaris is how the beavers cope with hot temperatures and summer heatwaves.
The simple answer is – they cope remarkably well.
Eurasian beavers are an incredibly adaptable species and naturally occur across a wide range of climates, from the cooler forests of Scandinavia and Russia to the warmer regions of the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Although their fur is exceptionally dense, it is well adapted to cope with a broad range of temperatures. They also have one obvious advantage: water is never far away, providing the perfect place to cool down.
Beavers are crepuscular, meaning they are most active around dawn and dusk. As a result, they spend much of the hottest part of the day resting inside their lodge. Built from layers of branches and mud, the lodge provides excellent insulation from the summer heat, while the shade of the surrounding bankside trees and the cooling effect of the nearby water help create a comfortable refuge until temperatures begin to fall in the evening.
Join us this summer on one of our safaris
With longer evenings, warmer weather and increased beaver activity around the lake, summer is one of the best times of year to experience these remarkable animals in their natural habitat.
Whether you’re hoping to see a beaver collecting food, browsing along the shoreline or simply enjoying the tranquillity of the lake at dusk, we’d love to welcome you on one of our Beaver Safaris.
Our Beaver Safaris run on selected dates throughout the year, with both weekday and weekend experiences available.
Weekend Beaver Safari
£45 per person (adults and children aged 8+)
Platinum and Gold Members: £40.50 per person (10% discount)
Dusk Beaver Safari
£39.50 per person (adults and children aged 8+)
Platinum and Gold Members: £35.55 per person (10% discount)