I was fishing on the river the other day and generally enjoying the scene and exploring. This beaver dining aftermath caught my eye so I clambered up the bank to investigate. They'd taken everything from the small tree, nearly, except the sound the wind once made in the leaves. I was surprised that the victim was a gum bumelia [Sideroxylon lanuginosum] mostly because I usually associate the tree with an upland site here abouts. There was actually a small thicket of them there, minus one member.
Of course it has only one scientific name but several common names. The gum bumelia name allegedly comes because once people used the sap as a sort of chewing gum as sweet gum was. I've never tried it that way but plan to, there's a few growing close by my house. Experiment in progress but I suspect it's not a simple process, even sweet gum sap has to cure a bit before you can sample the very questionable delicacy.
Long story short I suspect the beavers found some special charm in the trees taste to butcher it out so thoroughly, maybe the sap is a beaver's nutritional delight.
I had a pic of the tree skeleton but give up trying to post it. Analog brain, digital world, I only got it as far as my profile gallery. Oh well.
It's there as as you said, they only left the "bone".
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/37804/IMG_20231223_140852198~1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1703721452)
I wondered whether I could post it and I did. ;D
Thank you Magicman, good work!
I clicked on the picture in your Gallery and copied the [img] code that was in the "BBCode (fullsize):" box and pasted it in my reply.
To post my own picture from my Gallery, I click on the picture and then click on the line that says; "CLICK HERE TO INSERT IMAGE IN POST". Then click on the OK in the popup box. The picture's address is seen in my reply box so click on "Preview" to see what the post will look like.
Preview allows you to see the post as it will be and you can then scroll down to your reply box and make any adjustments or corrections that you want to do. I very seldom ever make a reply that I have not previewed.
Thankful not to see a roasted beaver on a platter with an apple in its mouth in lieu of the Christmas turkey! :D
I can testify that in our area the beavers like sweet gum a lot! Several years ago we suddenly had beavers in our pond, had never seen one in 20 years. The trees that they favored was sweet gum. Son came over with his traps and "lure" and we trapped two of them. Since we had never eaten beaver meat we decided to try it. It was actually very good and looked and tasted much like beef! Other than the cleanup of the sweet gum trees it didn't bother me at all to lose them ;D. The beavers were also boring into the pond dam so they had to go. We've had none since.
Yes, beavers love Sweetgum. I seldom find where they fell a tree, just take the bark and cambium as high up as they can reach and then move on to another.
I only had beaver once. Wife cooked it like a pot roast. If the meat was not so dark, I would not have been able to tell the difference.
It was a good!!!
Since it's been mentioned, in reflection it does seem beavers have a preference for sweet gum. I can't think of another tree I'd prefer they prefer either. And, on the other end of the dining spectrum beaver is good eatin, properly cooked, it's a little like groundhog but coarser fleshed and considerably more difficult to peel.
Sure it tastes good! Lots of things taste good but don't look good.
Just don't want to see a roast beaver on a platter. :D
Sawyer ted you could consider candlelight or wine goggles to soften the mind's visual image.
:D :D :D :D
Wine goggles for sure! Same with escargot! Tastes great but less seeing! :D
When the wife cooked it, she did not put an apple in the beaver's mouth. :D
Roast beaver with no apple in the mouth? Why, that might be uncivilized!
I've cooked beaver a number of times and deboned it after cooking. I then put it into a crock pot with store-bought BBQ sauce and heated it up without cooking it after adding the sauce. I cooked it in a very big kettle with water. It's good on burger buns. That should address Teds' concerns. :)
The generally accepted way to cook beaver where I grew up was wrap it in foil with BBQ sauce and slow cook it in the oven till tender.
WV, I'm sure that your method to cook beaver tastes fine. But, most everyone likes boneless meat. And, I'm thinking that Ted does not want to look at no stinking bones. ;D
I
I should have said quartered and wrapped in foil but did not think I could get that in a one line post/reply.
Filet d" le Castor avec au jus! Mmmmm Good!
Bien qui?
Oui
Roti lentement
I've reached the limit of my high school French