Here is my interpretation of what happened. After scatting at a likely latrine (they sometimes scat on the bench put there for park visitors,) the otters jumped into the pond to do some more fishing. (I don't think they were rallying to the call of the siren which you hear in the back ground!) A beaver swam over to investigate and the otters ignored it by fishing in their usual fashion around the pond. However, when they returned, swimming toward the lodge where they had commonly rested during the day, the beaver swam out to deflect them, swimming right into their path. The otters went on shore, screeching all the while, leading me, and perhaps the beaver, to think they they were leaving the pond. Then they went to the point on shore closest to the lodge, and before the beaver could block their way, rushed through the shallow water in that part of the pond and gained control of the lodge, much to the splashing frustration of the beaver.

There were other beavers around in the pond, and as far as I could tell, they made no effort to help. So put it this way: keeping the otters in check is the job of one beaver in the colony. As for the otters, they only feel safety in numbers. But lets appreciate the otters' moment of victory. Can you hear a difference between their yowling screech when they are scared and when they are triumphant? I call them victory yowls.

I must say that all the otter-beaver encounters strike me as more akin to a game than a life or death struggle. Otters kill fish, and though I do not doubt that they can and do strike out and kill other animals, they generally have a good sense of life's proportions and an optimistic and sunny demeanor. At least that's the conclusion I drew when I saw my only fight between two otters. Take the link below to see that. But first let me set the scene. One blustery day in April I was sitting by a beaver dam and kept hearing such a screeching that I thought it was a raucous argument among the blue jays or blackbirds. Then I lowered my gaze and saw two otters contending on the far shore. Since it was April, I don't know for sure if it was one male fending another off, or a female rejecting the advances of a male. Click the link to see the scene:

One Otter Keeps Another Otter Away

I now kick myself for not trying to get closer. The otters were so involved with each other they might not have noticed me. But sitting where I was, I had a perfect view of the denouement. The losing or rejected otter assumed a comfortable position on a log, got a bite, regained his composure, and swam up to the next pond for more adventures.

Although I know otters thrive in parts of the world where the winters are easy, I think the long hard winters here stamp the characters of the animals I watch. Beavers and otters cannot battle, nor can otters rage against their own kind, because they have a greater enemy to face: winter with temperatures that will stay below zero on many nights and more than enough days; consequent ice that can get to be a foot thick in the shallow beaver ponds, two feet thick in the river; and frequent snows. I had my doubts that I could survive, but otters have certainly showed me some good ways to get through the winter. For example, an iced pond can be very convenient: page35