No. It's a pastry.

Following my last trip to Montreal I told a friend that I hadn't gotten the chance to have a beavertail which was a shame because they're a favorite.

To which she replied, "Are they tough?"

In fact, they are not. Because it's a pastry and not the tail of an actual beaver. Think the doughboy/funnel cake family (depending on where you grew up).

President Obama actually got good press for making a beavertail stop on his trip to Ottawa. It made for the kind of headlines that made those not in the know say, "Huh?"