When I shot the footage to the right of Jr approaching mom and whining so plaintively and mom ignoring him, I was feeling so bad about mom not paying attention that I wondered about calling BPS (beaver protective services). Instead, I sent it to Bob Arnebeck (still furrowed with worry) because he has been watching beavers in New York since forever and has seen all possible beaver interactions.
Amazingly enough, he wrote back:
Now that’s a nice beaver Mom. Often they are pretty rough with a mewing kit. Thanks for sending the clip. Bob
Which just goes to show you that everything is relative, and you should always ask an expert before you panic! Here’s some footage he shot of mom not paying attention to a mewing kit.