I had to come out of my usual lurking to get the advice of those much more experienced than myself-

I live in the Central Colorado mountains along the Arkansas River. I've found a great high elevation spot about 45 minutes from my house where the beavers are densely populated, and the trapping has been great this season (I've caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 of them since the beginning of November). But, this week, I decided I'd try my hand at trapping beavers close to my house (holiday stuff- couldn't take the time for the long drive to the "good" spot). I located an active spot in a small channel off the Arkansas River, set my traps, and I've caught three in the last three nights. However, to my chagrin, they're kinda gross (for lack of a better word). They're covered in fleas, the meat has an odd odor that makes me not really want to eat it, and, worst of all, their castor glands smell TERRIBLE. Like, just a straight up nasty urine smell.

I understand urine is part of the equation with castors, but I've been thoroughly enjoying the scent of drying castor glands in my fur shed up until now. Have any of you experienced this? They're also a dark grey color instead of the white-ish color I've grown accustomed to.

I've had that before, maybe one with a bad castor got bitten i think