Beaver - Castor canadensis

Beavers are pretty awesome. They can close their nostrils and ears when submerged, and their eyes are covered by a membrane that allows them to see underwater. Both sexes have castor sacs/anal glands under the base of their tails, which contain castoreum that they use to mark territory. Castoreum extract was once used as a food additive, supposedly similar to vanilla. I have a jar of dried, ground castor sacs and it smells nothing like vanilla. I can't imagine eating it.