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Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

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Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#41

Post by lonlazarus »

huytersd wrote: post #37
zxspectrum1982 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hunting and gathering is as old as human beings. It's more difficult in the XXI century but in a large-enough forest (and a natural park that is), you can still do it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer

Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.

I live in NorCal and do some culinary foraging for fun. There's plenty, I mean people lived here before Europeans colonized. There's all kinds of native berries, blackberry, salmon berry, service berry, elderberry huckleberry. There are plenty of nuts, beaked hazelnuts, black walnut and the most plentiful are acorns.

And there's plenty of small game to hunt and trap. I don't see that Petrov did this, but I imagine if he was comfortable catching and eating a neighbors duck, he probably took a squirrel or two in his life. The natives would obviously fish, take all kinds of small game, even including rat.

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#42

Post by xyzwave »

huytersd wrote: post #37
zxspectrum1982 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hunting and gathering is as old as human beings. It's more difficult in the XXI century but in a large-enough forest (and a natural park that is), you can still do it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer

Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.

I just read a hypothesis from an anthropologist suggesting that the reason California’s indigenous tribes did not practice agriculture like eastern tribes, was due to the abundance of food they could forage year around. Oaks providing a significant part of their diet (which are plentiful in Mendocino) but also other nuts, berries, and tubers found throughout California.

So relative to our modern diet, maybe your point holds, but the California Floristic Province has plenty of plants to sustain humans. IIRC, the indigenous population density was some of the highest in the world.

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#43

Post by solardev »

DaftDank wrote: post #21
hutzlibu wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But he did use gas bottles to heat up things and this can make all the difference. Still, not pleasant. Oh - and you automatically stay awake, when it gets too cold. Only when you are really exhausted and sleep in the cold, you will never wake up (from various movies and books I was afraid of this trope when I was younger, but nope, as long as you have energy left, your body automatically wakes you up and starts movi…

I learned this the hard way when I was homeless at 17-18 years old in the middle of Wyoming winters. I had at least had my old Grand Cherokee to sleep in the trunk space, but not enough money for gas to run the heater. I'd pile all my clothes on top of me, but there were always patches where the cold got through and I'd spend so many nights just shaking from the cold. Spent the Christmas of 2004 this way. You are als…

Merry Christmas man, hope this one is better for you!

I was also homeless with a car for a while, but in a much warmer climate. It's no fun!

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#44

Post by solardev »

xyzwave wrote: post #42
huytersd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.

I just read a hypothesis from an anthropologist suggesting that the reason California’s indigenous tribes did not practice agriculture like eastern tribes, was due to the abundance of food they could forage year around. Oaks providing a significant part of their diet (which are plentiful in Mendocino) but also other nuts, berries, and tubers found throughout California. So relative to our modern diet, maybe your poin…

I thought a lot of that is acorns (that need a lot of preparation) and fish, not so much random food growing around the redwoods you could just pick and eat?

(Lived in the area for a long time, but not an expert at all). Did the anthropologist provide any details? I'd love to read their work

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#45

Post by solardev »

lonlazarus wrote: post #41
huytersd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.

I live in NorCal and do some culinary foraging for fun. There's plenty, I mean people lived here before Europeans colonized. There's all kinds of native berries, blackberry, salmon berry, service berry, elderberry huckleberry. There are plenty of nuts, beaked hazelnuts, black walnut and the most plentiful are acorns. And there's plenty of small game to hunt and trap. I don't see that Petrov did this, but I imagine if…

Have you tried living off foraged foods for any length of time? Is it realistic to be able to get enough calories, proteins, and fats doing this on your own without extensive fishing and hunting? Sounds like it would need a lot of nuts, and there aren't that many fruiting trees there to begin with, are there?

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#46

Post by sakopov »

> John Melvin said Zailenko was eventually taken to the hospital in Ukiah, and over several days, many different people visited and tried speaking to him in Russian and many other languages, but no one could identify what words exactly he was speaking.

I'm assuming it was Ukrainian? Although if someone tried to speak to him in Russian, they'd be able to understand that he was speaking Ukrainian and naturally understand a good majority of it.

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#47

Post by lonlazarus »

xyzwave wrote: post #42
huytersd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.

I just read a hypothesis from an anthropologist suggesting that the reason California’s indigenous tribes did not practice agriculture like eastern tribes, was due to the abundance of food they could forage year around. Oaks providing a significant part of their diet (which are plentiful in Mendocino) but also other nuts, berries, and tubers found throughout California. So relative to our modern diet, maybe your poin…

That's also my understanding. I do wonder if that's a bit of a misunderstanding about not practicing agriculture, though. They did practice forest management with intentional burns. I'm pretty interested in traditional English forest management, and reducing brush and decreasing canopy increased the amount of forest "products" available to people, from building materials (basketry, hut materials, etc) to increased yields from under story vegetation.

It's a bit of a digression, but it's a subject I find interesting and rarely pops up in hacker news. :)

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#48

Post by MikePlacid »

sakopov wrote: post #46

> John Melvin said Zailenko was eventually taken to the hospital in Ukiah, and over several days, many different people visited and tried speaking to him in Russian and many other languages, but no one could identify what words exactly he was speaking. I'm assuming it was Ukrainian? Although if someone tried to speak to him in Russian, they'd be able to understand that he was speaking Ukrainian and naturally understa…

Most probably. Petro is the Ukrainian first name, while Petrov is the Russian last name. Zailenko is the Ukranian last name. So the only valid combination is Ukranian. (Do not ask me how I know this. I can’t explain. Just a trained neural network produces these results).

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#49

Post by gen220 »

asimpletune wrote: post #28
huytersd wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The craziest thing about this guy is he spent every Maine winter over those 27 years without lighting a single fire to keep him warm because he thought it would expose him. He would just stay awake all night and start walking around when he thought he was getting so cold it might be dangerous. That really to me is hell on earth. At least Petrov lived in California where it was mostly nice year-round.

I met a self-described “mountain man” in Montana once, and I asked how he stayed warm in the winter. He told me the key was to build an insulated nest, below ground, packed with snow, and then you light a single candle and close up the nest. That this was enough to stay warm even in the Montana winter. It’s hard to know if what he was saying was true or not, but I think I believe it. He also saw my VW and immediately…

I camped out like this once per year in my teens!

It was lots of fun. We’d hike into the snow pack set up a tent the first night, and spend the second day building snow caves and sledding. Then we’d build a bonfire that would melt down to the ground (or a boulder) by morning. Good times.

Caves take way less time to set up than an igloo and only requires a shovel for equipment. Although, it requires more maintenance for long-term shelter than an igloo. There’s good documentation on how to build one online.

Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)

#50

Post by gen220 »

hodgesrm wrote: post #38
huytersd wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might survive 32F but you can’t possibly make it for very long if you have to be that cold night after night.

Actually 32F without wind is no big deal if you have a decent sleeping bag. Plus it gets warmer as you do more stuff inside (e.g., cooking). Igloos have the same design and can get pretty warm. [0] The real problem in my experience is that it's quite humid. Since you are insulating with snow it evaporates and raises the humidity up to the dew point. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo

You have to poke holes in the ceiling, and make sure the they’re clear every day.

If you light a candle, the snow will melt and freeze into a film of ice.

The holes are important for ventilation in general, but it also allows vapor to escape.

When we built them we’d use ski poles to make the holes. You don’t want them to be too big or you risk the structural integrity of course. There was a ratio of hole count : people that we followed but I can’t remember that detail (:

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