I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
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Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#2I got myself a copy of the SAS survival handbook sometime last year. It covers this topic and many others: http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Revised-Situatio...
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#3[deleted]
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#4There's a show on the Discovery Channel about people who get lost in the wilderness. One thing I've noticed is that they spend all their energy and time trying to get back to civilisation, so they very rapidly get worn down.
I think a good strategy when you are lost in the wild is to immediately start keeping an eye out for shelter, food, and water. The article gives some good tips, but they take time if you want to be reasonably sure of what you are going to eat.
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#5[deleted]
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#6Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this:
Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison?
Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know?
I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#7Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this: Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison? Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know? I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.
The problem is actually that lots of things that you can eat taste horrible. And you won't find much ripe fruit in the wild anyway, because they're eaten right away.
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#8The simple rule I was taught that if you can find anything that moves, cook and eat it before eating unknown plants. Your odds are generally much better with animals than plants -- you can probably find dozens of examples of inedible or poisonous plants on your back yard alone, while poisonous (as opposed to venomous) animals whose poison is still dangerous after being cooked are quite rare.
An even simpler rule is to start with anthills -- ants live almost everywhere, and while many ant species use poison as a weapon, none are poisonous after cooking.
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#9There's a show on the Discovery Channel about people who get lost in the wilderness. One thing I've noticed is that they spend all their energy and time trying to get back to civilisation, so they very rapidly get worn down. I think a good strategy when you are lost in the wild is to immediately start keeping an eye out for shelter, food, and water. The article gives some good tips, but they take time if you want to…
There is a saying that, "you can travel across the land or live off the land but not both."
You may be able to improve your chances over the short term by concentrating on finding food but if you want to survive long term your best chance may be to get back to civilisation and get back quick.
Having said that as with most situations the optimal strategy is probably somewhere between the two extremes.
Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?
#10One tip I learned for berries was that if the birds don't eat them, you shouldn't either because they're almost certainly poisonous. The reverse is not true: birds can eat things you can't.