The mushroom of death....

[Stringmaker]

We went on a "Fungi Foray" yesterday afternoon, organised by the local wildlife trust.

The venue was a piece of ancient woodland which is owned by the trust as a reserve, and we were free to forage and collect at will. Being a complete noob when it comes to fungi, I was drawn to one specimen which was the odd one out amongst a small cluster of other ones.

It turns out that I had spotted the only death cap to be seen or collected from the whole foray.

I was actually quite pleased in a bizarre way that I had come face to face with something so innocent to behold and yet so lethal.

Have any of you had an innocent bushy brush with the afterlife?

P.S. I washed, boiled, disinfected and steam cleaned my hands.

 

[Dano]

Have any of you had an innocent bushy brush with the afterlife?

.

does a black spitting cobra count? It was on Saturday, just a youngster about 16inches long, very pretty thing, was flaring its hood as it slithered away

not very bushy either really as I was on the 14th fairway at the time

 

[xylaria]

P.S. I washed, boiled, disinfected and steam cleaned my hands.

didnt they tell you cant become poisoned by touching it. You have to swallow a bit. The one and only time I have come across a death cap i kissed the top to prove it isn't poisonous by touching, it was at a summer bush moot for this forum, so there is witnesses.

for west wales there is carmarthenshire forays on the 20th meeting at mynydd mawr car park tumble , tregib nature reserve llandeilo the 21st and pembry on the 11th november. All forays start at 2pm.

I have touched a wild adder. I didn't mean to, I saw a movement in heather and push it apart to have an adder brush past my fingers. I was really supprised just how far I jumped back, really primative response. More people die from eating fungi in one year than from adder bites in a centery.

 

[Harvestman]

I've encountered death cap from time to time. It isn't that uncommon.

My only real bushcraft near-death experience was the time I went out for a day's bushcrafting and came home very late in the evening, to find that I had forgotten I was supposed to be taking my wife to a do several hours earlier.

 

[fishfish]

i married one....

 

[Stringmaker]

didnt they tell you cant become poisoned by touching it. You have to swallow a bit. The one and only time I have come across a death cap i kissed the top to prove it isn't poisonous by touching, it was at a summer bush moot for this forum, so there is witnesses.

for west wales there is carmarthenshire forays on the 20th meeting at mynydd mawr car park tumble , tregib nature reserve llandeilo the 21st and pembry on the 11th november. All forays start at 2pm.

I have touched a wild adder. I didn't mean to, I saw a movement in heather and push it apart to have an adder brush past my fingers. I was really supprised just how far I jumped back, really primative response. More people die from eating fungi in one year than from adder bites in a centery.

Yes I did know that, I was just massively exaggerating for dramatic literary effect.

I still didn't feel comfortable until I had washed them though, which I guess is a healthy survival instinct in general.

 

[luckylee]

I was just reading about these, and wiki states.
As the common name suggests, the fungus is highly toxic, and is responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.[1] Its biochemistry has been researched intensively for decades,[31] and 30 grams (1 oz), or half a cap, of this mushroom is estimated to be enough to kill a human.[42] In 2006, a family of three in Poland was poisoned, resulting in one death and the two survivors requiring liver transplants.[43] Some authorities strongly advise against putting suspected death caps in the same basket with fungi collected for the table and to avoid touching them.[18][44] Furthermore, the toxicity is not reduced by cooking, freezing, or drying.[45]
so should you touch them or not?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Personally... No.

If one half of a mushroom is (or can be) fatal, and mushrooms are 3/4 (or so) liquid. Even the smallest amount of
'juice' wont be good for you. I've poked one with a stick though It was a text book death cap and quite pretty.

 

[xylaria]

yes.

The founding basis of toxicology is dosage. The half cap to 1/4 cap dosage needs to be injested. You can't absorb that quantity of a protien type toxin through your skin.

i totally understand the fear thing, if you think it odd holding something that toxic, think about how little paracetmol, drain cleaner or nicorete tablets it would take to kill. Yet these are in peoples cupboards at home.

 

[Harvestman]

I have no issue with handling death cap. I've done it several times without ill effect. However I do remember years ago on a fungus foray my stepdaughter handling a specimen of Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina, and then rubbing her eye. Half an hour later she was screaming with pain, even after we washed the eye with water. No grit found, so we can only attribute the pain to a toxin from the fungus.

 

[Bundleman]

The best thing about them is putting other people off collecting wild mushrooms! Best to exaggerate the danger with all the poisonous ones and hopefully leave more of the tasty ones for me. (Of course i mean us!)

Kinda on topic, found my first Devils Bolete today!

 

[xylaria]

I have no issue with handling death cap. I've done it several times without ill effect. However I do remember years ago on a fungus foray my stepdaughter handling a specimen of Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina, and then rubbing her eye. Half an hour later she was screaming with pain, even after we washed the eye with water. No grit found, so we can only attribute the pain to a toxin from the fungus.

interesting, it could be muscarine, it is simerlar to nerve agent, the muscles in the eye are very small and suseptable to stuff that blocks acetylcholine. It might well be some other route or issue. I am not sure i would rub a muscarine containing fungus in my eye to prove the hypothesis.

 

[Laughoutlouder]

Over in Germany and I have seen many destroying angels over the past few weeks. I have handled them and brought my groupmates through all the characters I can remember each time, right down to the spores. I havent thought much of it and generally give my hands a bit of a rinse afterwards. I guess I should be more careful about sensitive skin contact afterwards of eating my sambos but have not noticed any ill effects.

On a more positive note I have finally made the jump from identifying to learn to identifying to eat. It took me a few years to build up the confidence to identify edible mushrooms and perhaps more importantly the dangerous ones but it was well worth it. What a feed I had last weekend. Ceps took first place, followed by parasol mushrooms (it took me a long time to finally eat these given the similarities with Amanita sp.) and finally deceivers. Puff balls are nice but the marshmallow consistency was odd, still battered and fried they were great!

 

[xylaria]

Over in Germany and I have seen many destroying angels over the past few weeks. I have handled them and brought my groupmates through all the characters I can remember each time, right down to the spores. I havent thought much of it and generally give my hands a bit of a rinse afterwards. I guess I should be more careful about sensitive skin contact afterwards of eating my sambos but have not noticed any ill effects.

On a more positive note I have finally made the jump from identifying to learn to identifying to eat. It took me a few years to build up the confidence to identify edible mushrooms and perhaps more importantly the dangerous ones but it was well worth it. What a feed I had last weekend. Ceps took first place, followed by parasol mushrooms (it took me a long time to finally eat these given the similarities with Amanita sp.) and finally deceivers. Puff balls are nice but the marshmallow consistency was odd, still battered and fried they were great!

Good on you. I spent about fives years learning and geeking over fungi until I got a confedance up to eat them. Spiky pestle puffballs were the first I ate. It is getting the experiance that picture of a parasol in a book can look like some amanita until you find both and realise the soft texture of parasols is unmistakable.

You should be really proud of yourself, for taking the time to learn mushrooming properly.

 

[udamiano]

A couple of shrooms from my walk today

Not Nice- and no pixie

2. A lot better