this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (5 children)

A general rule is if it has pores instead of gills, you’re probably in the clear.

Except for that one in Europe, that shit will megadeath you.

In all seriousness, the general rule I’ve heard for foraging wild unknown things is:

  • cut it open and rub it on your skin, wait an hour, if it gives you a reaction, stop here.
  • touch it to your lips, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
  • touch it to your tongue, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
  • chew a bit and spit it out, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
  • swallow a small amount, wait a few hours, if it gives you discomfort, stop here
  • if you’ve made it this far, it’s likely ok, do so at your own risk tolerance

Roots are generally OK, particularly if you have access to double boil them.

For mushrooms:

  • pores are generally safer than gills
  • don’t eat it if it’s bioluminescent
  • don’t eat if it oxidizes quickly when you cut it open
  • don’t eat it if it bruises blue or red
  • learn how to detect what a bolete is. Boletes are generally safe, unless it breaks one of the rules above
  • Slime: Just say no.
  • make sure there’s not a mushroom growing on your mushroom. Double the mushroom is not double the fun.
  • learn what a destroying angel looks like, even when it’s young. Appreciate it from a distance, but give that fucker 5 feet of space at all times.

I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.

When in doubt, take it to an expert and even then, consume at your own risk tolerance.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's interesting, my general rule for foraging wild unknown things is: don't.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Imagine dying for a D tier pizza topping

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Right next to "caramelized onions".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Now you've gone too far.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

There was a guy a few years ago who tried to live off grid. He died, having left behind a journal detailing his final days. In it, he logged the exact process you outlined above for various things he foraged, which included wild potato seeds. Turns out those things pass all the above tests, but contain a deadly neurotoxin that builds up over time (that even modern science didn't really know about). Poor guy starved because he was too weak to even crawl.

nature be scary fellow humans. Be careful out there.

https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/13/4726722/into-the-wild-author-reveals-chris-mccandless-cause-of-death

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

He also wandered into the Alaskan wilderness with basically just a sack of rice and a .22lr rifle.

He was a a couple miles from safety the entire time, but did not buy a map so believed he was stranded when the river rose and cut off the main trail. But there was another trail with a raised cable crossing over the river a few miles upstream.

He was totally unprepared and essentially just committed extended suicide. The fact that he remembered some basic tips from a Boy Scout handbook doesn’t mean he was an expert. Kid was an idiot who got in way over his head.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

That some guy ISNT JUST ANY GUY! 😤

  • Documentaries were made about him
  • A very successful movie was made about him “Into the wild”
  • Countless Youtubers keep making videos about him; Thoughty2 made a very good video about him..
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

All that to find whether a random plant will poison you

Animals are so much easier: is it an animal? It's good to eat

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Oh, my friend, I suggest you look into fugu, mad cow or chronic wasting disease.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Sure. Go for healthy animals. There are also several nasty viruses that have passed from animals to the humans who ate them. But shit happens. Given a random plant or a random animal, I'll take the animal

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

For mushrooms the only good advice is, if you don't know what you are doing, don't go foraging for mushrooms. Rules and guidelines that apply for one region might not work for another. The risk reward never works out if you're inexperienced. You either get a tasty treat or incurable certain death. It's not a great gamble.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

The people who die from death cap mushrooms here (Canberra, Australia) all learnt about mushrooms in another country, where death caps don't grow, but an edible mushroom that looks just like them does

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sure, and I suppose you’re going to advise me not to do my own electrical home wiring either. 😛

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If you're even half competent, you could (not recommended) actually do some basic electrical work at home and come out of it alive and well after a few youtube videos and some reasonable precautions. I can't same the same about mushroom foraging.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

don't eat it if it bruises blue

Or do if you're up for an interesting time and it passes the test above. Eat about three grams for some nice sights and 6 before sitting in a dark, cool room to meet something unknown

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't think there are any harmful mushrooms that bruise blue but would love for an expert to chime in here

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Rubroboletus satanas is definitely poisonous. On the other hand, Imleria badia is very good. Bruising blue doesn't really say anything about edibility.

I'm not an expert, though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Good to know, but definitely wouldn't mistake that stinky thing for an edible or fun mushroom