So I had quite an odd encounter with a beaver:

A gentleman who I manage and trap farms for got me in touch with a man with some odd beaver problems. He has them on a trail cam, don’t seem to be overly abundant, but oddly one died and the dogs drug it to the house. I decided to skin it out so it wouldn’t go to waste and I noticed some odd things:
- A very foul smell after opening the beaver (it couldn’t have been rotten, it was still limp when I got it and I skinned it right after).
- Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
- An odd discoloration of fat near the belly (pictured below).

I assume the beaver has to be sick, but I’m curious with what? And what would be the proper way to manage them?

By chance would it be possible that they have been shot at with a shotgun at one time in the past. This is just a guess, I'm not sure otherwise.

Some kind of infection I would guess

If the fur was good probably toss the rest (minus the castors) would be my suggestion

Talk to a local veterinarian that deals with small animals if you really want to know , personally I wouldn't take a chance with putting it up but then that's just me .

After decomposition starts, the body will become limp again after they went through the rigor mortis stage. That one looks like its just rotting.

Swollen lymph nodes are usually an indicator of cancer, infection, or maybe the presence of a foreign object in the body. When I looked this up I also found that allergies can cause this as well. I don't know much about how that works.