Beaver Castors Whole
These are the dried and aged scent glands of Castor Canadensis, the North American Beaver.
$40.00 - $577.00
Castor sacs have been used for hundreds if not thousands of years in traditional medicine and perfume making. Once dried, they are pulverized and used in incense. They are considered aphrodisiac and an attractant to both genders.
10 grams will yield 100 millilitres of perfume tincture which can be used on its own or as an ingredient in a complex perfume creation./
Both beaver genders possess castor sacs and anal glands located in two cavities under the skin between the pelvis and the base of the tail. The castor sacs are not true glands (endocrine or exocrine) on a cellular level, hence references to these structures as preputial glands or castor glands are misnomers. (Wikipedia).
The scent drawn from the glands is leathery and woodsy, smokey and sultry. It is a base note and fixative in mainstream and natural perfumery.
The perfume tincture is easily extracted through maceration in alcohol and through solvent extraction to create an absolute.
Government agencies supervise Beaver trapping in Canada to limit the damage caused by beavers while maintaining a healthy ecosystem and animal population. Inhumane steel leg-hold traps are banned in Ontario and most other provinces.
Beavers are traditionally trapped for their versatile waterproof fur, not for their scent glands.
Beaver trapping has been an essential part of many North American aboriginal cultures, where a reverence for nature and her animals is an integral part of traditional hunting and trapping practices.
These Castor sacs are #1 premium quality from a grading system of 3 qualities. #3 having the least amount of Castor in the sac and most damaged in the process of removal and drying.
They are sold by 10 gram increments and whole attached pairs can be purchased at a lower cost in bulk, by weight. Pairs average 20 to 100 grams.
They can be ground and tinctured "as is" or aged for as long as you desire. I have cured these sacs for 1-2 years and have made beautiful tinctures and extracts from them.
Castor makes a very unusual and exotic addition to incense blends when dried and ground.
For instructions on how to prepare your own Castoreum and other aromatic products from Castors, please see my post here-https://apothecarysgarden.com/blogs/blog/how-to-prepare-castoreum-and-other-aromatic-delights
Dan
Materials: Cured Beaver Castors, Castoreum, Castor sacs.