Antelope Bob
Soul Seeker
Here are some guideline for eating wild plant life. In most situations, if you don't know what a plant is, don't eat it. You can live 3 weeks or more without food. You can live a lot less long with poison in your system. Only eat wild plants if you have devoted a good deal of time to studying them.
Animals:
There are three main types of meat you can get in a survival situation: Insects, fish, and game. Here they are covered in that order; easiest to hardest.
All mammals and birds are edible. Some must be boiled or roasted until tender, though.
Do not eat dog/wolf liver, it contains high levels of vitamin A which can lead to hypervitaminosis and death.
Eating a long term diet of only rabbits can lead to "rabbit starvation" and death. Rabbits have no fat which your body needs.
Insects:
In many places, insects are a staple of local diets. Some basic guidelines for insect eating:
- Do not eat mushrooms or fungi unless you know for certain that it is edible. Most are poisonous, and there is no way of determining which ones are edible without properly identifying the species.
- Plants with umbrella-shaped flowers should not be eaten.
- Avoid legumes (beans and peas).
- Bulbs should generally be avoided. Wild garlic and onions are edible but have poisonous look-a-likes. However, garlic and onions smell distinctively like garlic and onions.
- Lichen
- Avoid white and yellow berries, as most of them are poisonous. Blue and black berries are usually safe to eat.
- The "berry rule" is that 10% of white and yellow berries are edible; 50% of red berries are edible; 90% of blue, black, or purple berries are edible, and 99% of aggregated berries are edible. This is only a guideline, and unknown berries shouldn't be eaten.
- Aggregated fruits and berries are almost always edible (blackberry, raspberry, salmonberry, and thimbleberry).
- Single fruits on a stem are usually considered safe to eat.
- Plants with shiny leaves or a milky sap are considered to be poisonous. The two that don't follow this rule are Dandelion and Fig. (Both have milky sap.)
- It is a myth that if an animal eats something, then it is safe. For instance, deer will eat poison ivy.
- Wild nuts that taste or smell like almonds are EXTREMELY dangerous. They contain hydrogen cyanide.
- Wild fruits and berries can be checked for edibility in the following way:
- Put a small amount of juice on your forearm and wait until it dries. If there is no burning, swelling or redness go to the next step.
- Put a small amount of juice on the corner of your mouth and wait until it dries. If there is no burning or stinging go to the next step.
- Put a small amount of juice on your tongue. If there is no burning or stinging go to the next step.
- Eat a very small amount. (If you immediately feel sick or vomit, stop eating!) If no symptoms occur in 24 hours, the item MOST LIKELY is not poisonous.
- Eat sparingly at first, and if symptoms still do not occur, proceed to eat as much as you like.
Animals:
There are three main types of meat you can get in a survival situation: Insects, fish, and game. Here they are covered in that order; easiest to hardest.
All mammals and birds are edible. Some must be boiled or roasted until tender, though.
Do not eat dog/wolf liver, it contains high levels of vitamin A which can lead to hypervitaminosis and death.
Eating a long term diet of only rabbits can lead to "rabbit starvation" and death. Rabbits have no fat which your body needs.
Insects:
In many places, insects are a staple of local diets. Some basic guidelines for insect eating:
- Avoid brightly colored insects.
- Avoid insects that bite or sting.
- Avoid fuzzy or hairy insects.
- Most worms and grub are good to eat. It helps to toast grub until they are dried.
- Some ants are good food. Dip a stick in water after letting it be coated by ants; repeat until you have enough.
- Before eating grasshoppers and crickets, remove their wings and legs. (They scratch on the way down.)
- Only eat fresh, healthy insects.
- Grasshoppers can contain tape worms, grab them behind the head and hold their body and pull out the stomach and intestines, and it is a good idea to line them up on a small stick and roast them on a rock by a fire.
