How do you know what is safe?

[campclose]

I've always wondered how people know what is safe to eat when stuck in the wilderness? Wouldn't it be awful if they survived the wilderness only to get really sick from something they ate.

[enjoytheclimb]

You have to learn ahead of time in order to know which plants are which. Some are very confusing. For example, growing up in the northeast, we had chokecherries (which are edible) and snakeberries (which are toxic). They look exactly the same if you don't know the difference. There are books that can help but it's best to have a guide who can show you while in the wilderness as you will learn better than from a book.

[calanta]

If you plan to research with a book make sure it is an up to date book, some guides are also expensive to start off with so be careful when hiring one. I learned that the hard way, and guess what, no refunds.

[Shanna]

I'm an RN and I work at various clinics as a float nurse. We had a guy one day come paddling into our little ER on his bicycle. He had been camping at a nearby wilderness area and he thought he had eaten the wrong mushrooms even though he had a book on wild edibles. We wound up pumping his stomach, putting charcoal through a nasogastric tube into his stomach and transporting him to a nearby hospital for a four day stay. We locked his bicycle in the clinic until he got out and came back for it. I think I learned then not to eat something unless you absolutely know what it is without a doubt.