'Rocket fuel' toxin from poison mushrooms sickens 10 in Michigan

originally posted by: crazyewok
Although some are posting picking tips.

My advice is still don’t

Not unless its a SHTF situation and even then only as a last resort.

Really it only takes one mistake.

with many there is no antidote or going back, your liver and kidneys are destroyed no matter what and you need a transplant.

I think that if someone knows how, why and when to pick wild mushrooms there is no reason to be afraid. It is the same with all wild foraging.

It reminds me of a mate's brother who made loads of elderflower champagne for a family wedding.

Luckily he showed his brother were he had picked the elderflowers and they were in fact hemlock.

He would have taken out most of his family with such a simple mistake.

a reply to: nonspecific

If you know how go ahead.

But ATS is a public website and full of idiots who would read some "advice" and go out and pick themselves, screw it up them end up in hospital.

Basically if you have to read advice of ATS to pick mushrooms your not qualified

As for e;elderflower? It would be safer to give me hemlock! Im extremely allergic to the stuff.

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: nonspecific

If you know how go ahead.

But ATS is a public website and full of idiots who would read some "advice" and go out and pick themselves, screw it up them end up in hospital.

Basically if you have to read advice of ATS to pick mushrooms your not qualified

As for e;elderflower? It would be safer to give me hemlock! Im extremely allergic to the stuff.

I agree anyone foraging without experience is looking at a darwin award for sure.

I think I may also be allergic to eldeflowers.

I had a couple of bottles of elderflower champagne a while back and man did I feel ill the following day.

a reply to: nonspecific

I have a similar problem, with grapes.

I read somewhere that every Mushroom has a toxic twin...Not worth it.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

I have never heard that, as said puffballs for instance?

It maybe just an old wives tale to make sure the ill informed do not risk a horrible death.

I seem to rember reading somewhere that kids do not like mushrooms as it is hardwired into our brains to avoid them picking the wrong ones and eating them.

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: Soloprotocol

I have never heard that, as said puffballs for instance?

.

Who would eat a puffball...They smell and taste like wet Labrador from what i've heard. I occasionally eat Angel Wings, i know the tree/area they grow on every year so they are a safe bet...everything else i leave well alone.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Puffballs are amazing eats.

I have never heard of angels wings though. do they have a posionous twin then?

a reply to: crazyewok

Spore prints and notable bruising, spore colour distance between gills, stem height, cap diameter. Mushroom color, the environment it was growing in, these characteristics should almost always help you narrow it down. Always take a spore print, don't eat decomposing unidentifiable field fungus!

Also, it's a good thing to keep in mind that there are some mushrooms, while not exactly poisonous, that will make you taste colors, if you know what I mean. Always be sure of what you're eating. Better to be safe than sorry.

originally posted by: TechniXcality
a reply to: crazyewok

Spore prints and notable bruising, spore colour distance between gills, stem height, cap diameter. Mushroom color, the environment it was growing in, these characteristics should almost always help you narrow it down. Always take a spore print, don't eat decomposing unidentifiable field fungus!

We have a local species of Liberty cap. Purple spore print your going to be very happy, black spore sprint and your in hospital for a week, white? Your #ed.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
Also, it's a good thing to keep in mind that there are some mushrooms, while not exactly poisonous, that will make you taste colors, if you know what I mean. Always be sure of what you're eating. Better to be safe than sorry.

Actually that’s a common form of poisoning round here.
People go shroom hunting and pick the wrong ones.

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: Soloprotocol

Puffballs are amazing eats.

I have never heard of angels wings though. do they have a posionous twin then?

Havn't got a clue, I got a mate to try them first....The ones i harvest grow by the hundreds on this one tree...Not a strong flavoured shroom more like oyster shrooms..

ps, I've also eaten 5 fly agaric in the one sitting, Cooked them with sausages...Nothing, No Lights, No hippy trippy stuff, just a nice big beefy Mushroom.
Maybe there is a special way prepare them or a certain time of year for those Mushrooms to have any psychedelic effects. Certainly had no effect on me.

originally posted by: crazyewok
I knew a expert who had been picking for decades # up.

Had to have a liver transplant.

I dont understand how this could happen, was he picking mushrooms he knew were edible and for some reason this one batch was toxic, or did he pick mushrooms he thought were a certain type and they were not?

I pick pine mushrooms every autumn, have been doing it since I was a kid with my dad. I know exactly what I am looking for and what they look like at every stage. But still some people go all funny like when I tell them about them, even after explaining how long I have been doing it.

a reply to: Cinrad

He simply made a mistake one day and picked a toxic mushroom he thought was edible.

Crap happens.

a reply to: crazyewok

I dont do that kind of foraging, where you go out looking and pick many different types or whatever is growing out there, too many risks, if you only do one type at a time you are not likely to make the mistake. When you are picking multiple types, you are more likely to forget something like "pitcairns dont normally grow next to yew trees, make sure it isnt a toxic bogong" or something.

Trent, Italy is the wild mushroom capital of the world. The city has a paid inspector go around the markets everyday and inspect the mushrooms for sale to ensure they are not poisonous, they sell up to 80 types of mushrooms over a season. I'd like to go there one day in autumn.

Simple rule, just pick the ones you grow. Too damn easy to go wrong here.

originally posted by: Gazrok
Simple rule, just pick the ones you grow. Too damn easy to go wrong here.

That's true. They sell starter kits for different kinds of mushrooms, too.