posted
Comment: According to a bunch of websites the famous Canadian author Margaret Atwood once said that when hunted, beavers, knowing they are being hunted for their testicles, will chew them off and offer them to the hunter. For example these three webpages, and countless others:
A Google search for "beaver testicles Margaret Atwood" will yield more examples.
I believe this to be false, how would an animal learn such a thing, once its testicles are gone it will have no offspring to pass this information on, if it was even aware of it. It just smells of an urban legend, but so far I have not been able to find any hard source debunking it.
Posts: 36029 | From: Admin | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Actually, the book How to Stay Alive in the Woods says that the most delicious part of a beaver is the tail, which is mostly fat, and one should reserve much of the tail to use to prepare less fatty meats, like rabbit, nutrea or many fishes, so one doesn't eventually starve to death by eating too little fat. So you'd think they'd actually chew off their tails and offer that to the hunter.
-------------------- Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Posts: 536 | From: Gonzales, Louisiana | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Second Edit, because I like this story so much: I've come across this before in various medieval bestiaries. Beavers are often depicted with rather... prominent testicles, and the accompanying text generally describes pretty much what Margaret Atwood supposedly said, with small details changing. Info: The beaver's tail wouldn't be a better body part to bite off -- because that's what the beaver breathes with underwater, silly. Also, the testicles were often believed to grow back.
And, since a lot of medieval science was classical science with bits added or removed, here's a Wikipedia entry on Claudius Aelianus, with a quote from a work of his written in the late 2nd or early 3rd century: Same story. Beaver sacrifices testicles.
This has got to be one of the oldest Urban Legends ever.
Posts: 315 | From: Berlin, Germany | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I don't know if Margaret Atwood ever said that, but beavers are sexually monomorphic. They have no external genitalia. Until recently there was no reliable way to tell a boy beaver from a girl beaver in the field. (At least for us people. Beavers seem to have little difficulty telling the boys from the girls.)
Zoologists could make a good guess by palpating them, but they still made a lot of mistakes. There wasn't a good way to tell for sure without observing the beavers to see how they sorted themselves out (and that could take a while) or dissecting them (which was kinda hard on the beavers.)
Recently there have been some genetic tests developed which give quick and accurate results.
quote:Originally posted by snopes: According to a bunch of websites the famous Canadian author Margaret Atwood once said that when hunted, beavers (are) being hunted for their testicles
Glad to know I'm not the only one who has had that problem.
Robbiev -but I'm not biting them off- 427
-------------------- Every time I see a good looking woman, I think, "0oooh. There's another one I'll never have!"
Corvette. The louder you scream, the faster I'll go. Posts: 1820 | From: Memphis, TN | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I'm sorry I thought this thread was about something else. With tips and advice.
-------------------- I sat on the cat. Now he is flat. Think I'll wear him outside as a hat. 'Bout time he did something useful-- an original poem by Smoke (no cats were hurt in making this poem but one came damn close.) Posts: 374 | From: the right side of the Detroit River Ontario | Registered: Jun 2003
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I'm no authority on the subject, but I can tell you that my brother used to trap beaver (no snickers please) when he was in his late teens, early 20's.
First off - note use of the word "trap." I grew up in a rural area, and I don't recall hunters stocking up on ammo right before beaver season. It was my understanding they were hunted for their pelts (don't ask me why), so shooting them would be too destructive.
My brother would set the traps, leave, and come back later. To my knowledge, my brother never went to check on a trap and found a beaver humbly offering up his little balls. My brother has a twisted sense of humor. I know this is something he would have mentioned.
By the way, since my brother is one of those men who believes if you're going to kill an animal, do it the respect of making use of every portion of its little critter body, I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Loyhar *my beaver-eating moratorium breaks the hearts of millions of men* gil
-------------------- Bender: Oh cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee. Posts: 1170 | From: Iowa | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
-------------------- Stupid, stupid rat creatures! - Bone "The missionaries told us not to cut ourselves. It displeases Jesus." - Elsie Clews Parsons, Kiowa Tales, quoted in The Mourner's Dance, Katherine Ashenburg Posts: 695 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:First off - note use of the word "trap." I grew up in a rural area, and I don't recall hunters stocking up on ammo right before beaver season. It was my understanding they were hunted for their pelts (don't ask me why), so shooting them would be too destructive.
They used to make hats from em
-------------------- 'Hello, assorted humanoid strangers. You are standing casually in our forest. This bewilders us.' Blatherskite Posts: 950 | From: Cincinnati, Ohio | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
My brother was always very careful about that.
Maybe it's just an acquired taste.
And A_F. Hats. Hadn't thought of that.
Incidentally, my brother trapped the biggest beaver in the area, about 50 pounds, and made the front page of the paper for it.
I am from a very small town, lol!
-------------------- Bender: Oh cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee. Posts: 1170 | From: Iowa | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
And yet, when Beavers were still classified as fish, they were eaten during lent since the tails are a good source of fat and protein. Makes sense when you consider all the things you weren't allowed to eat, and that lent was pretty much half the year.
Posts: 315 | From: Berlin, Germany | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by jimmy101: I use to hunt beavers.
Until I got married.
Yeah I know. Wives huh?
-------------------- I sat on the cat. Now he is flat. Think I'll wear him outside as a hat. 'Bout time he did something useful-- an original poem by Smoke (no cats were hurt in making this poem but one came damn close.) Posts: 374 | From: the right side of the Detroit River Ontario | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
My brother was always very careful about that.
Maybe it's just an acquired taste.
And A_F. Hats. Hadn't thought of that.
My subtler attempts at humour are often like hats... They go over everybody's head.
Arts "a wry sense of humour often goes awry" Myth
-------------------- Stupid, stupid rat creatures! - Bone "The missionaries told us not to cut ourselves. It displeases Jesus." - Elsie Clews Parsons, Kiowa Tales, quoted in The Mourner's Dance, Katherine Ashenburg Posts: 695 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:And yet, when Beavers were still classified as fish, they were eaten during lent since the tails are a good source of fat and protein. Makes sense when you consider all the things you weren't allowed to eat, and that lent was pretty much half the year.
Is my mind stuck in the gutter or is there a lot of double entendre potential in this quote? Beaver classified as fish for dietary purposes? The tail is the best part? Although, I'm pretty sure that good Catholics weren't supposed to be doing THAT during lent.
-------------------- 'Hello, assorted humanoid strangers. You are standing casually in our forest. This bewilders us.' Blatherskite Posts: 950 | From: Cincinnati, Ohio | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Aptenodytes_Forsteriis:
quote:And yet, when Beavers were still classified as fish, they were eaten during lent since the tails are a good source of fat and protein. Makes sense when you consider all the things you weren't allowed to eat, and that lent was pretty much half the year.
Is my mind stuck in the gutter or is there a lot of double entendre potential in this quote? Beaver classified as fish for dietary purposes? The tail is the best part? Although, I'm pretty sure that good Catholics weren't supposed to be doing THAT during lent.
Oh, it's fine for Catholics to do THAT during Lent. As long as they use the rhythm method. ;-P
Loyhar (a former practical, not practicing Catholic, hence only one child) gil
-------------------- Bender: Oh cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee. Posts: 1170 | From: Iowa | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote: Is my mind stuck in the gutter or is there a lot of double entendre potential in this quote? Beaver classified as fish for dietary purposes? The tail is the best part? Although, I'm pretty sure that good Catholics weren't supposed to be doing THAT during lent.
Potential? Intent, I tell you! Posts: 315 | From: Berlin, Germany | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
My brother was always very careful about that.
Maybe it's just an acquired taste.
And A_F. Hats. Hadn't thought of that.
My subtler attempts at humour are often like hats... They go over everybody's head.
Arts "a wry sense of humour often goes awry" Myth
I thought it was a joke. In fact, I found that whole exchange hilarious. I also feared my mind was just waaay too far in the gutter.
-Star"top 10 favorite thread"la
-------------------- This used to be the life, but I don't need another one. MyBandwagon Posts: 3254 | From: small town Texas | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Loyhargil: I can wholeheartedly advise everyone here NOT to eat beaver (again, no snickers please). It's way gamey, and not pleasant.
Maybe it just wasn't cleaned and prepared properly?
My brother was always very careful about that.
Maybe it's just an acquired taste.
And A_F. Hats. Hadn't thought of that.
My subtler attempts at humour are often like hats... They go over everybody's head.
Arts "a wry sense of humour often goes awry" Myth
I thought it was a joke. In fact, I found that whole exchange hilarious. I also feared my mind was just waaay too far in the gutter.
-Star"top 10 favorite thread"la
Yeah, I'm bad, it totally flew right over my head.
Of course, I'm snagged by stuff like that easily. Once, a friend of mine looked at me and said, "Did you know the word 'gullible' is not in the dictionary?" The only thing that didn't make me feel as bad is one other people chimed in with me and said, "Really?"
-------------------- Bender: Oh cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee. Posts: 1170 | From: Iowa | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Usually I'm the last one to get a dirty joke, so that one had me wondering if I'd been corrupted.
-------------------- This used to be the life, but I don't need another one. MyBandwagon Posts: 3254 | From: small town Texas | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
This wily beavers, offering up their testicles to distract us, when what we really want is their castoreum, which according to wikipedia still has modern uses "in trapping, some perfumes, and as a flavoring in chewing gum. Castoreum is believed by some to have medicinal properties."
-------------------- In politics, absurdity is not a handicap - Napoleon Bonaparte Posts: 1801 | From: The Forest City, Ontario | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Comment: A comedian said that when beavers are angry and get ready to fight they pull on their testicles... is this true?
Posts: 36029 | From: Admin | Registered: Feb 2000
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Rogue1stclass
I'll Be Home for After Christmas Sales
posted
One could say that most of Canada was paid for in beaver...
Seriously, trapping beavers for fur almost lead to the extinction of the animals in the 19th Century. Then suddenly someone decided that top hats should be made of silk and not beaver, and the market collapsed, and the beavers recovered.
Strangly enough, as has been posted already, beavers don't have netherparts like most mammals or even rodents. They have a cloaca like birds that houses their reproduction and elimination bits, as well as oil glands. This oil is used for waterproofing of fur as well as marking territory and attracting mates. It appearently stinks bad enough for a human to detect the markings.
These glands are probably what is being mistaken for testicles. What the beavers are probably doing is spreading the oil, either in grooming or as a territorial display. When an observer catchs or kills a beaver after seeing this, he will find that the beaver has no reproductive organs at all, just what looks like an anus. So there is probably conclusion jumping.
Posts: 195 | From: Florida | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by snopes: Comment: A comedian said that when beavers are angry and get ready to fight they pull on their testicles... is this true?
Sometimes it takes balls to fight.
-------------------- If you say you love ice cream, you better be dreaming of an orgy with Ben, Jerry, and one fine-ass chunky monkey.
-- My sister and poet extraordinaire, Joanna Hoffman Posts: 1475 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Also, the testicles were often believed to grow back. 
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