Kootenay Lake has three (semi?) aquatic mammals. By medium weight they are: the beaver (~ 23 kg), otter (~ 8 kg), and muskrat (~1.2 kg).
It is difficult enough to obtain decent pictures of any of the three, but obtaining shots of each interacting with ice is distinctly less likely. So, when I realized that with last week’s picture of a muskrat, I had an example of each, I felt that it was worth a posting.
How each mammal interacts with ice probably depends upon its weight and ice thickness, but my sample of pictures is too small to allow anything but anecdotal comments.
The heaviest of our aquatic mammals, the beaver just plowed through the grease ice. (Jan. 16, 2015)
This otter is dealing with much thicker ice, but keeps the dive hole open by stirring the water even while apparently napping. (Dec. 27, 2013)
Weighing little more than a kilogram, this muskrat tried to break the freshly formed ice with its claw. Failing to do so, it then dived and swam underwater to the shore. (Nov. 4, 2015)
