Survival Myths... Debunked

[blueyes]

Myth:
Plants Are a Good Source of Food in the Wilderness -

Unless you're a certified expert not just in plants, but in the plants of the given region you happen to be in, stay the hell away from the plants!

Here's the facts...
- ALL fur bearing mammals are safe to eat, and will provide you with nutrients and calories.
- ALL 6 legged insects are safe to eat, and will provide you with nutrients and calories.
- Almost all freshwater fish and almost all birds are safe to eat, and will provide you with nutrients and calories.
...and finally
- MOST plants will harm you, make you sick, or worse... poison you. There are actually very few that will provide you with any nutrients or calories.

It's a simple equation... if it walks, crawls, swims, or flies, the odds are in your favor that it's not only safe to eat, but that it will provide you with the nutrition and energy your body needs. If it sits there like... umm... like a plant, the odds are against you both for your own physical safety, and for nutritional content. It's just not worth the **** unless you're absolutely sure!
 
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[Saffi]

Good to know I just hope I'm not in the position to have to eat the 6 legged thingys.

[Windmill]

Unless you been versed in what is edible.  I do know in my region there is Miner's lettuce that is edible.  I would not eat anything else but I do know this plant quite well.  Mushrooms are the most likey to be ingested and fatal of all the plants.

For animals, rodents are probably the one species you would want to injest last. Many are prone to various types of diseases including bubonic plague.  Under rocks or logs should give you a nice bounty of protien like grubs and worms.  Most of these are edible.  Insects
for the most part are okay to eat.  Avoid beetles because many of them emit toxic substances to quell being eaten. 

I've eaten snake before but you got to work them over a bit including insuring that you do not ingest the venom glands of poisonious
snakes.  Off with their heads and peel the skin back.  Roasting them makes them taste a bit better than the fishy taste you'd get raw.

For fish, you have to improvise some type of line and hook to get them.  Most are not going to be easy to catch under normal circumstances.  A bit of thread, a shiny reflective substance. Wire bent in the form of a hook will do.

What is more prudent is keeping hydrated.  You can last for days without food.  Water, on the other hand is needed within hours or else.
Moving water is best.  One that is filtered though rocks.  Standing water is a no-no unless there is nothing else.  Anything one can do to purify it.  Running it though leaves to a basin might help.  Sea water is lethal.  Sometimes you can actually accumulate water by digging a hole and laying a thin material over it with a slight bend (a pebble in the middle) to promote consendation and having a container to catch the drops.

Always have a couple of supplies in your vehicle.  Should you venture out further than you normally do, more is better.

[blueyes]

All of this is good to know, you never know when tips like these will be needed. 

[Windmill]

I sound like that survival dude on Discovery channel.

Survivorman or something like that.  I've been a camper for too long I guess.  Hate to say that my parents were couch potatoes so
at an early age I joined the Boy Scouts and away I went.  Most of my outdoor days (and nights) are behind me now, but I still
enjoy getting out on occasion.

No more **** 3 week backpacking trips though Yosmite for me though.  Been there, done that.

[Tuberavens]

I joined the Boy Scouts

I use to be a boy scout till I got caught eating a brownie

[Windmill]

At least you didn't mess with the Blue Jays.  They would of pecked your eyes out.

Only brownies I ever got was the Alice B. Tolkas variety and the gal who made
them didn't bother to sift out the stems and seeds.  Sort of like eating an
intoxicating alfalfa muffin from hell.  At least the Grateful Dead was good that
day..............

[Tuberavens]