They roasted beaver tails as dinner
In North America, beavers are a protected species, but there was no such thing in the early eighteenth century. During that time, people hunted these rodents for their fur and also their meat. But nothing could go to waste, so they also used their tails as well.
Life during those times was nothing like our modern days. Once you have hunted an animal, you should seize as much of it as you can. It might sound super gross for most of us, but they could not throw the tail away back then. Instead, they preferred to roast it and have it for dinner.