Scent-marking in the Eurasian beaver Castor fibei as a means of territory defense

and/or anal gland secretion at scent mounds in their territory year round. We investi-gated the hypothesis that during winter Eurasian beavers may intensify use of scent, in year round ice-free water systems, during the breeding season. This study showed that the median number of scent marks in 7 territories increased significantly in the breeding (January-March 1996), compared to the nonbreeding portion of winter (October--December 1995), which is consistent with our prediction. The median number of scent marks was significantly higher during February, compared to January and March. This may be due to females approaching or being in oestrous in our study area during February. Further studies are, however, needed to clarify how information in scent marks are coded and transmitted during the breeding season