Lichen

  Lichen    

      For most of us, the lichen is most valuable as an emergency food, especially in winter.

            Most northern lichens contain a bitter acid which can be very irritating to the human stomach; it can be removed by soaking or boiling. Soak, and drain several times, adding a tsp. of soda (if available) to the water each time, to neutralize the acid.

            Lichen can be dried in the sun or in an oven, and pounded into a powder. Add the powder to soups or stews, make it into a hot cereal, or use it as a substitute for half the flour in bread  or bannock  It is very nutritious as attested to by the caribou and some other animals of the arctic  that eat little else. Lichen was also a food staple for the Inuit , and many other peoples,of the Canadian Arctic; that are often thought of as being strictly meat eaters.
©Al (Ales,Alexander) D. Girvan

THE DRAG SNARE

I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE EVER USING THIS TYPE OF SNARE, BECAUSE THE ANIMAL DRAGS IT OFF AND MAY NEVER BE FOUND; IT OFTEN CAUSES NEEDLESS SUFFERING AND TORTURE.

THE DRAG SNARE

Same general idea as the simple snare, except that the horizontal cross-bar is supported in such a way that as the noose tightens around the animal's neck the animal pulls it off the support and drags it along. The surrounding vegetation USUALLY quickly catches the cross-member and the animal becomes entangled then slowly either strangles or starves to death.

Why, In Most Bush-Craft/Survival Situations, You Do Not Want To Be Killing, Or Even Hunting, Big Game Animals

Common Survival Myth, About Bush Craft and About the Hunting of Animals.

A common "American" and Hollywood movie based, survival belief/MYTH and a very common reason WHY MANY FAIL TO SURVIVE  a real life situation: is that you can just head to the nearest patch of forest and live off the large ungulates such as the bison, caribou, deer, ELK, pronghorn, or wapiti that MAY abide there. The fact is, these types of critters can and do have a huge range and are not; and were NOT EVER; a RELIABLE food source, to stake your life on.

Plus, the caloric expenditure needed to actively hunt them could outweigh the gain and put you in a worse off position than you were to begin with. 

In Most Bush-Craft/Survival Situations, You Do Not Want To Be Killing, Or Even Hunting, Big Game Animals.
Why?

The reasons are easy to understand, and easy to remember, because they make perfect sense; to any one understanding survival, really wishing to survive, or to remain a survivor.

The first cardinal rules of bushcraft/survival: Don't waste energy and time. Don't hunt big game, unless absolutely necessary-- it will never be ABSOLUTELY necessary.

1. YOU DO NOT EXPEND ENERGY UNNECESSARILY. Wasted energy can be and often is, the difference between life and death.
2. Plants, berries, fruit, and vegetables are always, always the first food priorities, in a bushcraft/survival situation and undoubtedly should be at any time.
3. The hunting of big animals uses energy in the form of calories from food (See.  http://cookingforsurvival--yourdownbutnotout.blogspot.ca/2012/03/survival-foods-think-plants.html
4. Because they are usually much more abundant, and/or, much easier to catch; birds, fish, and small game, plants and vegetables, will much more readily meet all your food requirements.
5. Big-game animals usually weigh too much to be easily transported to camp or storage areas.
6. The absolute necessity of dressing and butchering big game animals will always attract other, perhaps dangerous, predators, scavengers, and vermin to the area.
7. Most of us do not know how to properly dry, prepare, or smoke meats for storage and if, on rare occasion, we do have the knowledge, we have not had enough practise to be able to do so efficiently-- so would be much better off to obtain some of that much needed practise through the handling of much smaller birds, fish, and game.
8. Small game animals are very much easier to dress out, butcher, dry smoke, or otherwise prepare.
9. Having watched so many "reality" TV survival shows, most of us will not have a practical, truly usable  knife, of the type needed, in order to accomplish any of these chores.
10. Most of us have little knowledge of how to best store fresh meat.
11. Most of us do not know how; do not wish to exert the tremendous amount of energy required, and will not have or know how to manufacture the necessary equipment to produce a usable animal hide.
12. Even if we had or have produced all the necessary equipment, and have the knowledge and skills to do so, it really is unwise--perhaps even deadly, to exert that much energy-- UNNECESSARILY. 

© Al (Alex, Alexander) D Girvan 2012

SURVIVAL FOODS, ALWAYS THINK PLANTS

The importance of obtaining fresh red meat is one of the most fascinating yet controversial aspects of Survival/Bushcraft so many of the experts on the subject will undoubtedly become very upset with the focus of this posting. While in a ideal world it might be unnecessary for us to learn how to capture and kill our fellow creatures at all; this is not an ideal world or at least that is not The Mother's plan.
We could simply forage for plants and berries to meet all our nutritional need and in doing so we would; in many ways, be consuming a much healthier diet. Unfortunately, just as we would by becoming strict carnivores, we would eventually starve to death.
A good knowledge of edible plants is an important survival skill, and  consumption of vitamin rich plants are an important part of a balanced diet, because they help to maintain a robust immune system, and good general health.. However; forging uses energy in the form of calories from food, and in order to replace these calories we might have to consume vast quantities of plant materials; which would require even more calories.
This is the vicious circle faced by our prehistoric ancestors, and hunter gatherers throughout the world. They may not have known the names for calories, protein, and fats, but they would certainly have known hunger, and they would have noticed the increased energy and feeling of satisfaction they experienced eating a nutrient rich food.
The more macho minded survivor always assumes that the best way to obtain nutrient rich foods is to run off in pursuit of large game animals such as the deer family. Armed with some impressive weapon--not necessarily a firearm, they would walk for miles, tracking the animals that they hoped to hunt. They would then have to wait until an animal came into range. If, they got lucky and killed a deer or other large animal, they would then have to carry it's carcass back to their camp site where it would be butchered and prepared for eating or storing (remember, any fresh meat or animal tissue starts to deteriorate very quickly). All this requires energy, and while the body of a large animal would provide a substantial amount of calories and protein, it would also require a vast amount of energy expenditure in order to obtain it. What if the hunting trip was unsuccessful? If they return to camp without any meat, after burning up thousands of calories in pursuit of food, they would go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. They may not even have the energy to head off on another hunting trip and without anything to fall back on they would quickly starve.
How well we know the stereotype of the "rugged Plains Indian": Killer of bison, dresses in Buffalo Bill Cody designed bead-decorated buckskin, elaborately feathered headdress, and leather moccasins, living in an animal skin tepee master of the horse able to perform impossible feats with a bow and arrow and a stranger to vegetables of any kind. But this fantasised life style, limited almost exclusively to the Apache, Comanche or Sioux, nations, (if and where it existed at all) flourished no more than a hundred years. It is not representative of most Native North Americans of today or yesterday.
Fish and meat are undeniably good sources of protein and fat and they do provide almost every thing a long-term survivor would need--except fibre. However, at the first stage of a bushcraft/survival situation, plants are always the most appropriate diet, as plants are easily accessible, and contain all the necessary carbohydrates, fibre, protein , minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients necessary for survival which meat does not. Unless you are a very experienced hunter and know the area well, hunting animals for meat is very, very, inadvisable (plain stupidity) in a survival situation. Hunting is difficult and you will expend a lot of energy to get your food, if you get it at all.Instead, consider trapping. Trapping requires much less skill and leaves you free to spend time searching for other-- very necessary-- food sources. The wilderness survivor--the one who survives needs to know how to construct and place simple traps that are easy to remember and just as importantly easy to construct--without a lot of intensive labour.
Some other factors to remember: while all studies of human evolution have shown that our ancestors were all vegetarian by nature and that meat consumption by humans is a relatively new phenomenon; some bushcraft/survival experts will point to the Inuit diet as an example of a healthy diet, based extensively on animal products. these experts do not hesitate in the least to point out that the Inuit peoples had a relatively low incidence of heart disease. They often also suggest that these peoples may have been genetically programmed to to have a shorter life span (less than forty years on the average). More likely, and while the Inuit peoples did tend to have a larger liver; the shorter life s pan was  due to the  fact that the human body can not really detoxify vitamin A , a substance all too plentiful in many Arctic animals. The structure of the human body just is not suited for eating meat. This was demonstrated in a medical essay on comparative anatomy by Dr. G. S. Huntingen of Columbia University. He pointed out that carnivores have short small and large intestines. Their large intestine is characteristically very straight and smooth. In contrast, vegetarian animals have a long small intestine an a long large intestine. Because of the low fibre content and high protein density of meat, the intestines do not require a long time to absorb nutrients; thus, the intestines of carnivores are shorter in length than those of vegetarian animals.
Humans, like other naturally vegetarian animals have both a long small intestine and large intestine. Together, our intestines are approximately twenty-eight feet (eight and a half metres) in length. The small intestine is folded back in itself many times, and it's walls are convoluted, not smooth  Because they are longer than those found in carnivores, the meat we eat stays in our intestines for a longer period of time. Consequently, the meat can purify and create toxins. These toxins have been  implicated as a cause of colon cancer, and they also also increase the burden on the liver, which has the function of getting rid of toxins (this is undoubtedly why the Inuit peoples had larger livers). This can cause cirrhosis and even cancer of the liver.
NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT THE CONSUMPTION OF RED AND PROCESSED MEAT SUCH AS FRANKFURTERS (weiners), AND HOT DOGS CAN INCREASE THE INCIDENCE OF PREMATURE DEATH BY UP TO TWENTY PERCENT. READ ALSO: http://thegirvanway.blogspot.com/2012/03/red-meat-linked-to-higher-risk-of.html
Meat contains a lot of urokinase protein and urea, which add to the burden on the kidneys, and can destroy kidney function. There are approximately fourteen grams of urokinase protein in every pound of steak. If living cells are put into liquid urokinase protein, their metabolic function will degenerate. Furthermore, meat lacks cellulose of fibre, and lack of fibre creates constipation It is known that constipation can can cause rectal cancer or piles, and that it can kill you.
If you wanted to survive on a diet of rabbit, you would die, even if you had all the rabbit you could eat Rabbit is lacking in certain elements essential to our diets, so while rabbit may be a good supplementary food, much easier to catch with snares than by shooting. It or any other meat, should not be your staple.If , there is no other food available, you are undoubtedly best to eat the rabbit whole. The rabbits stomach contains essentially green leafy grasses, or other vegetation, all of which is edible to humans.
Always keep in mind, in a prolonged survival situation, protein alone will not keep you alive.
©Al (Alex, Alexander) D. Girvan 1995-2012

Small Game: Rabbit, Hare, Squirrel, Porcupine, Beaver, Muskrat and Skunk

One slight problem, for many of you "week-end survivors", attending courses and learning "bushcraft",  hunting, snaring, and trapping, techniques: 
you have not learned or still have very little knowledge of the size or resiliency of the Canadian varieties of the animals you intend to employ these learned techniques on. The Canadian beaver for example have been trapped (grand blanket pelt) that weigh over seventy pounds. 
In most cases, 

your techniques are a joke.

A  joke that would be very detrimental to your chances of survival in a real situation.

          In today’s world, one should avoid wild rabbits. Buy only domestic rabbits, cleaned and dressed. Domestic rabbit meat is white and delicately flavoured throughout. Most domestic rabbits (like chicken) are marketed at 8 to 10 weeks of age, and are then called "fryers". Since these rabbits are grown very quickly, the bones are brittle and in preparing for cooking, care should be taken to break them in such a way that they do not sliver. Because of their tenderness, young rabbits (which are lacking in flavour) can be cooked by the quick methods of roasting, broiling or frying. Older or wild rabbits (with much more flavour) need longer, slower cooking.

            Choose rabbits with soft ears and paws-stiffness is a sign of age. Neither hares nor rabbits should be drawn before hanging, as they may become musty. In winter, select a dry place for hanging, and they may remain for some time.

Dressing and Trussing

          To skin and dress a rabbit, hare or squirrel, cut off the fore feet at the first joint, cut the skin around the first joint of the hind leg, loosen it and then with a sharp knife slit the skin on the under side of the leg at the tail, Loosen the skin and turn it back until it is removed from the hind legs. Tie the hind legs together and hang the rabbit to a hook by this fastening.

            Draw the skin over the head, slipping out the fore legs when they are reached. Cut off the head and thus remove the entire skin. Wipe with a damp cloth. Slit down the front and remove the entrails, saving heart and liver, and wipe carefully inside. Wash inside and out with acidulated water, using 1 Tbsp. vinegar to each cup of water. Rinse and wipe thoroughly.

            If blood has settled in any part, cut with the point of a knife where it is black and soak in warm water, Skewer firmly between the shoulder and the leg, close to the body and fasten with skewers.

© Al (Alex, Alexander) D> Girvan

THE FAMOUS/INFAMOUS FIGURE-4 DEAD FALL, SNARE TRIGGER ASSEMBLY.

MOST STUDENTS, TAKING BUSHCRAFT/SURVIVAL COURSES, WILL HAVE NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS, WHEN TRYING TO CONSTRUCT THE FIGURE- 4 TRIGGER. THE PROBLEMS WERE CREATED WHEN SOMEONE, AT SOMETIME, DECIDED TO GET "ARTISTIC" AND SHOW THEIR GREAT INGENUITY. BEST, KEEP IT SIMPLE.

SUGGESTION: SHORTEN THE EXISTING UPRIGHT SUPPORT STAKE ADD AN ANOTHER;TO BE LOCATED TO THE EXTREME LEFT ACCORDING TO DIAGRAM. THEN, KEEP WHAT IS SHOWN AS A DIAGONAL RELEASE STICK AS VERTICAL AS POSSIBLE. 

SEE ALSO: http://cookingforsurvival--yourdownbutnotout.blogspot.ca/2011/10/survival-snares-traps-and-tools_10.html

Deadfalls are usually designed or should I say intended for the catching of smaller carnivorous/omnivorous animals but even so they require the implementation of considerable weight, as such animals are very resilient and their legs will act as shock absorbers. The environmental terrain where they live, in Canada, is usually covered with soft moss or tundra. 

The basic principle of the Figure-4 trigger, how it is supposed 

to work:

A log, or logs, a Wily Coyote sized rock, or other weight rests on the end of the diagonal stick. This supplies downward pressure to the end of that stick.

• The diagonal stick rests on and pivots on the vertical stick. This keeps the diagonal stick from slipping away to the left.
• The diagonal stick is also held in place by having the end rest in a notch on the horizontal  stick. Obviously, the pressure of the diagonal stick is pulling the horizontal stick towards the left.
• The horizontal stick is held in place by notches in both it and the vertical stick. These notches are the actual trigger mechanism. Note: the slight undercut given the notch, in the horizontal stick, intended to hold the diagonal stick in position.
• The bait is placed at the end of the horizontal stick, to the right, directly under the weight.
• When the animal takes the bait at the end of the horizontal stick the trigger is released. The horizontal stick falls to the ground, and the diagonal stick flips upwards and out in a counter-clockwise arc. This allows the weight to come crashing down on the animal, supposedly killing it instantly.

NOTE:  For deadfalls, the vertical stick  should be resting on a hard surface, such as a flat rock. Otherwise it will dig into the ground and not fall out of the way when the trap is triggered--the dead fall weight will again come to rest on the vertical stick and will not come "crashing" down.
SECOND NOTE: It is a good practice to put something hard on the ground (a rock) under the whole trap; otherwise, the weight may not kill the animal, only pressing it into the soft ground.
But, the best laid plans of mice and men oft times go afoul. The figure-4 triggering device looks fancy--on paper. 
It may even work--during practice--when you are constructing the device out of machined dowelling, or twigs, and also using very light weights.
In actual field use, the chances are very much stacked, that it will not function; for the following reasons.

• The downward pressure that the weight supplies directly to the diagonal stick will also produce an upward lifting force at the other end-the end that-in order for this trigger to work-- has to fit in, and STAY in, that notch in the horizontal stick-which it will, of course, not do, especially if the pole is a mere twig and it is fashioned from green wood which will tend to bend and separate easily. 
• To complicate the problem; there will also probably be a diagonally, down pushing force exerted  on the vertical stick. This force will tend to topple the vertical stick prematurely.
• Actually, as it is shown in any and all photos, or diagrams, I have ever seen of the figure 4 triggering device, there is absolutely--and I do mean absolutely, nothing; other than a single small notch, that, in order to have any possibly of supporting a weight heavy enough to kill any animal-except perhaps-a mouse, or lemming,  has to be cut with exact precision-holding the horizontal stick in place; the diagonal stick is usually not tied to it in any way(the one exception being when cordage is used instead of a diagonal pole).
• Then too, I have never seen an illustration or photograph in which the support sticks themselves were anywhere near strong enough to support a weight heavy enough to kill a beaver, porcupine, or even a large hare or rabbit (all of which are very unlikely to take any bait-except perhaps a salt lick-anyway).
• In order for this trigger to hold together, the way the trigger sticks are cut, the shape, weight, and placement of the dead-weight; everything about the fabrication has to be very precise. Even so. it is apt to be so delicate that a stiff breeze will trigger it-if indeed, it can be triggered at all-or by anything lighter than an elephant.
• My advice here: use my above suggestion; which is also the trigger I describe in my post on the simple snare; it is far less complicated and will be far more reliable.

In The Bush, In the WILD, in a /Disaster/Emergency Could You Really Survive?

The chances are better than 99 to 1 that you could; and would-NOT.

 Why, you ask, after all, you have read all the books, watched all the "reality survival games on TV--you have even taken some Bushcraft/survival courses?

The answers are very simple and straight forward:

1. Because you HAVE WATCHED ALL THOSE TV/REALITY/SURVIVOR PROGRAMS, you probably expect to have have at least two weeks notice before beginning "YOUR SURVIVOR GAME"
2.  Because your have watched all those survivor programs, you have a very complicated, bulky, disorganized survival kit; that is full of all kinds of fancy survival gadgets; but is far too heavy and awkward  to pack around all the time--so, of course, you don't, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE MOST APT TO NEED IT (after all, two weeks notice will give you plenty of time to pack it all to your "SURVIVOR LOCATION".
3. Because you have taken some Bushcraft/Survival courses and not done much, or any, thinking, for yourself; your "survival kit" has undoubtedly either been sadly neglected; , or is equipped with too much, too many, outdated, and the wrong type of supplies, including one or more of those "survival knives" now on the market-the kind that similar to a casino slot machine; have all the bells, lights, whistles and little practical use- except to give you some weight lifting exercise; or pull your pants down.
4. Because, you have watched all those survival programs, you undoubtedly adopted the belief that bushcraft/survival is some kind of "macho" game-you know, in a location setting; full of double crosses, and scheming intrigue-one "tribe" against the other.
5. Because, you have watched all those survival programs, read all those tales about "How the Indians Starved, After the Bison Disappeared" and read all the "Bushcraft/Survival" books you have undoubtedly adopted the belief that the acquisition of fresh RED MEAT from a "big-game" animal is the FIRST absolute necessity for survival. YOU NEED LOTS OF SURVIVAL WEAPONS.
6. Because, you do believe that the acquisition of fresh red meat from a big game animal is a "FIRST" priority you will probably expend most of your valuable energy tramping through the woods "hunting"and you will, undoubted, ignore, or pass blindly by; easily harvested plants that; could have; should have would have; allowed, assured, insured; survival. More Information:  http://cookingforsurvival--yourdownbutnotout.blogspot.com/2012/03/survival-foods-think-plants.html
7. Survival is not a game or a TV program. There are two outcomes and only two -you live and survive-or you do not-in which case- you die. Lean something about it-learn how our fore-father actually  survived-without all the modern "macho/caveman" gimmicks. And, learn the difference between pioneering bushcraft (to settle permanently into a new area) and the craft of disaster/emergency survival.

The best tips I can give you; tips that could increase your chances of survival by up to  fifty percent:

•  Forget all your pre-conceived ideas, and, what you have learned; about animal flesh (meat), being the first or optimal choice as survival food; and of animal skins or hides being the choice building and/or clothing material.
• Get a good field guide book and learn to know and identify the wild berries, nuts, trees, and other, vegetation native to your area. 
• Learn their modern uses and how they were used by primitive or pioneering peoples throughout time-as food, as material for the construction of clothing, cordage, implements, and tools, necessary for survival, as medicine, as animal/insect repellents, whatever. 
• Learn how to dry, smoke, or otherwise prepare; you items for transport.
• Learn how to store, and preserve food and OTHER ITEMS.
•  Learn how to use MOTHER'S pantry.

©Al (Alex Alexander) D Girvan 1995-2012