HUN Chapter 23: Processing the Beavers

Lin Yu'an didn't immediately process the beaver, but instead restored the first trap's snare, carefully checking the condition of the steel wire and anchor stake.

After confirming no damage, he skillfully reset it in the original position. Beavers are social animals, so there was definitely more than one in this den.

Although other beavers might have already fled, he still held a glimmer of hope.

Only then did Lin Yu'an walk toward the second trap's location with some anticipation.

Arriving at the second trap, the same situation occurred again! The steel wire connected to the anchor stake was also taut and straight, with another beaver underwater!

But this one was slightly smaller, about sixteen to seventeen pounds, and had obviously drowned.

"Two traps, two beavers!"

"It seems the reconnaissance two days ago and yesterday's hard work weren't in vain! One hundred percent success rate for the steel wire snare traps! Now the fat source is completely secured!"

Lin Yu'an tied the two beavers together, hoisted them on a wooden pole and shouldered them, carrying the two heavy adult beavers to the riverbank away from the shelter.

The terrain there was open and convenient for operations, while also avoiding blood scents that might attract unnecessary trouble too early.

He faced the camera, his face still unable to suppress his excitement, hefting the larger beaver in his hands.

"Look at this fellow! At least twenty pounds! This isn't just one delicious meal, its entire body is treasure! Fur, meat, even its glands have special uses."

"However, before enjoying it, we must conduct very careful and professional processing, especially paying attention to hygiene and safety to avoid parasite infection."

He took out the sharp high-carbon steel multi-tool knife and a whetstone from his backpack.

First, he carefully sharpened the blade on the water-dampened whetstone with "swish swish" sounds, ensuring it remained razor-sharp.

"For processing animals with thick fur like this, a sharp knife is essential, otherwise it's very laborious and easily damages the fur."

Lin Yu'an laid the drowned beaver flat on a large stone he had pre-cleaned, belly up. He had to process it first.

"The first step in processing beavers, and a very important step, is preventing bacterial growth in the organs. We must hurry to remove the internal organs."

"When opening the body cavity, you must be very careful to avoid puncturing the intestines or bladder, otherwise the contents will contaminate the meat, making it counterproductive."

He carefully made a small incision at the connection between the beaver's chest and abdominal cavities with the knife tip.

Then he inserted two fingers inside, lifted the abdominal wall upward, and used the knife tip guided by his fingers to open the chest cavity upward and the abdominal cavity downward.

This avoided directly cutting and injuring internal organs.

After the organs were exposed, Lin Yu'an first carefully separated and removed the beaver's intestines, stomach, and bladder, throwing them far into the flowing stream to prevent odors from attracting scavengers.

"When disposing of inedible parts, they must be handled properly to avoid attracting other predators."

Then he began carefully separating and removing edible organs like the heart and liver.

"The beaver's liver is very large, rich in vitamin A, making it good nutritional supplementation. The heart is also edible."

He carefully removed these organs and placed them on pre-prepared clean leaves, planning to take them back to the shelter for cooking.

While processing the organs, Lin Yu'an specifically pointed to two pear-shaped, yellow glandular sacs near the beaver's tail base.

"Look, this is the famous 'castoreum.' In Europe over the past few centuries, castoreum was a sought-after precious spice used for making perfume."

"From the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, human fanaticism for beaver fur hats and the profit from these glands led to massive beaver hunting."

"Of course, we can't use these glands now, but it's interesting to understand."

He completely cut off these two scent glands, threw them into the lake, and said to the camera:

"The organs are processed. Next is a small project, skinning!"

While speaking, he used the multi-tool knife tip to carefully start from the beaver's lower jaw, along the abdominal midline, gently cutting an opening that extended to the tail base.

"Beaver fur is very thick and warm. If properly processed, it can be made into hats, gloves, or used as bedding, all excellent cold-weather materials."

After cutting open the abdominal skin, he made cuts on the inner sides of the beaver's limbs from the ankles toward the abdominal midline incision, so the entire hide could be peeled off relatively intact.

Lin Yu'an grasped the cut fur edge with one hand while using the knife back or his fingers to carefully separate the skin from subcutaneous fat and muscle tissue.

He tried to avoid cutting directly with the blade to prevent tearing the hide or taking off too much fat.

"When skinning, follow the muscle grain, from top to bottom or outside to inside, separating bit by bit. Where fascia connections are tight, you can gently cut them with the knife tip."

"Beavers have thick subcutaneous fat layers. This fat is also a valuable energy source. When skinning, try to keep it on the meat so it can be scraped off later for rendering oil."

Under the sunlight, the reddish-brown beaver fur was completely peeled off. The inside of the entire hide still had some meat scraps and fat that needed subsequent cleaning.

Lin Yu'an spread out the removed fur and showed it to the camera, "Look, a quite complete beaver hide."

"We need to clean it quickly, scrape off remaining fat and meat, then tan it, otherwise it will rot soon."

After skinning, Lin Yu'an began cutting the beaver meat. First, he removed the limbs from the body, then cut the body into several large pieces along the spine. The beaver meat appeared deep red and looked very firm.

"Beaver meat has coarse fibers but high fat content, very suitable for grilling or stewing."

Lin Yu'an's tone became very serious.

"If you're fortunate enough to catch a beaver in the wild, you must pay attention! Safely consume beaver meat to avoid parasite infection."

"Wild animals, especially mammals like beavers that frequently live in water, easily carry various parasites like trichinella, liver flukes, giardia, etc."

"This is the source of the beaver curse! You must be very careful!"

"If eaten raw or undercooked, it's extremely harmful to humans, so remember to ensure it's completely cooked before eating!"

He held up a piece of cut beaver meat, "First, during cutting and cleaning, carefully observe the meat's surface and interior for obvious worms, cysts, or abnormal spots."

"If you find suspicious conditions, throw away the entire beaver, don't take any risks!"

"Second, regardless of cooking method, you must ensure the meat's center temperature reaches at least 75 degrees Celsius and maintains it for a period."

"I personally recommend definitely boiling. High temperature can kill most parasite eggs and larvae."

"For the beaver meat we got today, I plan to boil part of it then smoke it to make jerky."

"High-temperature boiling provides thorough sterilization, combined with the smoking process which also has sterilizing effects, providing double insurance!"

"For organs, especially the liver, special attention is needed! The liver is where parasites easily gather."

"So beaver liver, before eating, besides thorough washing, must be completely cooked and carefully checked for lesions."

Previously, Lin Yu'an had secretly stored the beaver in his golden finger space. According to the golden finger's inability to store living things, it should also eliminate parasites.

While speaking, Lin Yu'an repeatedly rinsed the cut beaver meat with stream water, removing blood and impurities.

Although the beaver had passed through the space, he still specifically observed the muscle cross-sections and found no obvious parasite signs, which relieved him somewhat.

After processing the first larger beaver, Lin Yu'an used the same method to carefully process the second one. The entire process took him nearly three hours.

Finally, he obtained two large piles of cleaned beaver meat chunks, two sets of edible organs, and two complete beaver hides.

Lin Yu'an faced the camera with a satisfied smile, "Today's harvest is really huge!"

"Next, we can prepare a sumptuous beaver meat feast! I can't wait!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]