For those of us who are more familiar with Celsius readings,
O oF = -17.8 oC
Toddy
Surviving on our own in a forest is a romantic notion that probably everyone on this forum shares. But the reality is that it's extremely difficult. In the military I went to survival schools for a number of different environments, and lost a lot of weight at every one of them. The best thing I ever caught to eat was a small raccoon, and that was pure luck - it was up in a tree as I was wading through a swamp, and I was able to knock it down with a frog gig and hold it under water. It was a feast. Most wild foods are bland, and it's almost impossible to gather enough calories unless you're extremely well-equipped and in a game-rich environment. Even indigenous peoples, who were true experts with a tremendous amount of knowledge that's since been lost, starved to death on a regular basis.
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There's plenty of healthy wild meat in cities that's much easier to approach than it would be in other settings. Squirrels, pigeons, ducks, rats, etc.
It'd be a lot tougher to scrounge and pinch food from people in the countryside. They tend to know each other and keep an eye on strangers, not to mention all the dogs and shotguns.
you wouldn't need a .22.
you'd just need some stale bread. if you sat at parkbench scattered the bread around you and waited - you 'd be able to catch pigeons in your hands while sitting down.
city vermin for dinner though, blech.
That depends how hungry you are
In the countryside we're more inclined to help out someone down on their luck rather than just walking on by.
is that really true where you live?
with drugs as the dominant cottage industry in most of our rural areas, urban areas tend to be safer and much friendlier.
even ten years ago that wasn't true, but now...