Beavers about

In the not too distant past a significant portion of the fragrance supply lines were linked to animal products. Driven by the need for scents that masked the rather ripe smell of the great unwashed perfumers turned to natural sources of all kinds for scents that would add that little something to their formulas. One of these they found in the strangest of places, beavers bums. To be specific, the scented castor sacs which the beaver is thought to use in scent marking when approached by a predator. These sacs are located in-between the pelvis and cloaca of beavers but – since I’ve done a bit of research – are not the anal glands which are also scented and used to mark territories.

These sacs were harvested to use as Castoreum in old fragrance formulas but not exclusively. Many of you may not realise the complex overlap between the world of perfumery and that of flavours but in fact many of the big fragrance houses are also adjoined to flavour providers and you guessed it, castoreum was no different. Having a vanilla-raspberry profile mainly used for sweets. However, some of the perfumery greats are thought to use it including Guerlain’s Shalimar for instance.

In the UK the trapping and killing of beaver for their scent, meat and pelts led to the eventual extinction of beaver throughout the British Isles with the last know beaver in the UK disappearing in the 16^th century leaving us without these miracle ecosystem engineers. Seen as pest at the time due to their damming of waterways and chewing of trees and shrubs they were often seen in conflict with landowners who seemed all too happy to remove them from their waterways.

However in recent times attitudes have changed. They have become the ambassador for many of the rewilding movement sweeping the UK at the moment. This is a movement that I am very happy to see up close with my ‘other job’ at Careys Secret Garden. Situated in Dorset, the South of England and at the gateway to the Isle of Purbeck we are very fortunate to be just a few miles from the most recent release of wild beavers back into our waters. Over seen by the National Trust four wild beavers were released under license with many more hoped to join them soon.

Why? Because they act as a vital keystone species in the environment. Their natural behaviours cause a cascade of ecological benefits to the wider landscape that it would take years of work at great cost to replicate if we did it ourselves.

As an example beavers dams slow the flow of flood waters allowing the landscape to soak the excess and reducing the risk of flooding downs stream (reducing by 30% approx.). The eddies, pools and puddles these dams create become home to friaries for breeding fish, allowing the return of healthy populations of salmon, trout and many more. In addition the biology of these dams and habitat allows for agricultural runoffs such as excess nitrate and phosphates  (responsible for much damage of our river systems and harbours) to be leached out of the water creating cleaner water for us all to enjoy.

As a perfumer I am beyond delighted that we are able to see the return of beavers to our wetlands and waterways, not for their scent (which we are more than able to recreate without them now thanks to science!) but because they represent the return of nature to a natural and bountiful balance. At Carey’s we hope we will get a glimpse of them in the future and we will certainly be admiring them from a far leaving their castor sacs well alone!

Simon is also running a unique scent workshop at Carey this summer if you are interested in learning the basics of perfumery and spending time in nature. See here for more details. https://www.careyssecretgarden.co.uk/products/introduction-to-perfumery-workshop-date

Photo by Liron Malyanker from Pexels.