Editing Beaver (section)

===Commercial use===
{{multiple image
| width             = 220
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Beaverbollocks.jpg
| alt1              = see caption
| caption1          = Depiction of a beaver hunt from a medieval [[bestiary]] with the beaver depicted as biting off its testicles.
| image2            = BeaverPelt (5118396762).jpg
| alt2              = A beaver pelt
| caption2          = Beaver pelts were the driving force of the [[North American fur trade]].
}}

Beavers have been hunted, trapped, and exploited for their fur, meat, and castoreum. Since the animals typically stayed in one place, trappers could easily find them and could kill entire families in a lodge.{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|p=89}} Many pre-modern people mistakenly thought that castoreum was produced by the testicles or that the castor sacs of the beaver were its testicles, and females were [[hermaphrodite]]s. [[Aesop's Fables]] describes beavers chewing off their testicles to preserve themselves from hunters, which is impossible because a beaver's testicles are internal. This myth persisted for centuries, and was corrected by French physician [[Guillaume Rondelet]] in the 1500s.{{sfn|Backhouse|2015|p=98}}{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|pp=55, 58–62, 65}} Beavers have historically been hunted and captured using [[Deadfall trap|deadfalls]], [[Snare trap|snares]], nets, bows and arrows, spears, clubs, firearms, and leg-hold traps. Castoreum was used to lure the animals.<ref name=CIPNE/>{{sfn|Müller-Schwarze|Sun|2003|pp=150–151}}

Castoreum was used for a variety of medical purposes; [[Pliny the Elder]] promoted it as a treatment for stomach problems, flatulence, seizures, [[sciatica]], [[vertigo]], and [[epilepsy]]. He stated it could stop hiccups when mixed with vinegar, toothaches if mixed with oil (by administering into the ear opening on the same side as the tooth), and could be used as an [[antivenom]]. The substance has traditionally been prescribed to treat [[hysteria]] in women, which was believed to have been caused by a "toxic" womb.{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|pp=74, 76}} Castoreum's properties have been credited to the accumulation of [[salicylic acid]] from willow and aspen trees in the beaver's diet, and has a physiological effect comparable to [[aspirin]].<ref name="MacDonald"/>{{sfn|Backhouse|2015|pp=97–98}} Today, the medical use of castoreum has declined and is limited mainly to [[homeopathy]].<ref name="MacDonald"/> The substance is also used as an ingredient in perfumes and [[tincture]]s, and as a flavouring in food and drinks.<ref name="MacDonald"/>{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|p=74}}

Various [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] groups have historically hunted beavers for food,<ref name="CIPNE">{{cite web |last1=Kuhnlein |first1=H. V. |author-link=Harriet V. Kuhnlein |last2=Humphries |first2=M. H. |title=Beaver |url=http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/mammals/furbearers/page.aspx?id=6142 |access-date=December 20, 2020 |website=Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003121130/http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/mammals/furbearers/page.aspx?id=6142 |url-status=live }}</ref> they preferred its meat more than other [[red meats]] because of its higher calorie and fat content, and the animals remained plump in winter when they were most hunted. The bones were used to make tools.{{sfn|Backhouse|2015|p=56}}<ref name=CIPNE/> In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church considered the beaver to be part mammal and part fish, and allowed followers to eat the scaly, fishlike tail on meatless Fridays during [[Lent]]. Beaver tails were thus highly prized in Europe; they were described by French naturalist [[Pierre Belon]] as tasting like a "nicely dressed eel".{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|p=24}}

Beaver pelts were used to make [[Beaver hat|hat]]s; [[felting|felters]] would remove the guard hairs. The number of pelts needed depended on the type of hat, with [[Cavalier hat|Cavalier]] and [[Capotain|Puritan]] hats requiring more fur than [[top hat]]s.{{sfn|Backhouse|2015|pp=99–101}} In the late 16th century, Europeans began to [[North American fur trade|deal in North American furs]] due to the lack of taxes or tariffs on the continent and the decline of fur-bearers at home. Beaver pelts caused or contributed to the [[Beaver Wars]], [[King William's War]], and the [[French and Indian War]]; the trade made [[John Jacob Astor]] and the owners of the [[North West Company]] very wealthy. For Europeans in North America, the fur trade was a driver of the exploration and westward exploration on the continent and contact with native peoples, who traded with them.{{sfn|Poliquin|2015|pp=92–94}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Madsen|first=Axl|title=John Jacob Astor: America's First Multimillionaire|date=January 30, 2001 |pages=2, 4, 49, 226–231|publisher=Wiley |isbn=9780471385035}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Canadian Prairies |last=Friesen |first=Gerald |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-8020-6648-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIMHAcD8LNkC&pg=PA62 |pages=62 |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423112208/https://books.google.com/books?id=SIMHAcD8LNkC&pg=PA62 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fur trade peaked between 1860 and 1870, when over 150,000 beaver pelts were purchased annually by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] and fur companies in the United States.{{sfn|Müller-Schwarze|Sun|2003|p=98}} The contemporary global fur trade is not as profitable due to conservation, [[Fur clothing#Anti-fur campaigns|anti-fur]] and [[animal rights]] campaigns.<ref name="MacDonald"/>{{sfn|Müller-Schwarze|Sun|2003|pp=150–151}}