Some Indian or French fur trapper may have discovered the beaver’s secret when starving one winter made him desperate enough to eat from his gutpile. The meat from the animal is very good, like beef. Maybe a trapper found out while trying to get a piece of tail.
I know muskrat oil smells like orangepeel but have never been desperate enough to do anything with the glands.
The scary thing is palmetto bugs smell just like almond extract. Makes me wonder if there is some consumer product out there with a label of beautifully illustrated almond nuts and leaves implying it’s got almonds in it that is actually made from palm roaches.