First of all, beavers were considered to be a sort of fish, and their meat could be eaten during fasting.

Secondly, beaver testicles were very valuable in medicine, so people hunted beavers in the Middle Ages. They believed that when a beaver realized that it couldn’t escape from its pursuers, it bit off its testicles and ran away.

This legend has a reasonable origin since beaver secretion is very valuable among perfumers nowadays.