Plants That Cause Contact Dermatitis

If you find yourself in a survivalist situation where you are beating a path through the woods you need to watch out for plants that can cause a condition known as contact dermatistis.

Contact dermatitis from plants will usually cause the most trouble in the field. The effects may be persistent, spread by scratching, and are particularly dangerous if there is contact in or around the eyes.

The main culprits are Cowhage, Poison ivy. Poison oak, Poison sumac. Rengas tree and Trumpet vine.

The principal toxin of these plants is usually an oil that gets on the skin upon contact with the plant. The result is very red painful skin that looks like it is peeling or burning. Blisters may form.

The oil can also get on equipment and then infect whoever touches the equipment. Never bum a contact poisonous plant because the smoke may be as harmful as the plant. There is a greater danger of being affected when overheated and sweating. The infection may be local or it may spread over the body.

Symptoms may take from a few hours to several days to appear. Signs and symptoms can include burning, reddening, itching, swelling, and of course, the painful blisters.

When you first contact the poisonous plants or the first symptoms appear, try to remove the oil by washing with soap and cold water. If water is not available, wipe your skin repeatedly with dirt or sand. Do not use dirt if blisters have developed. The poison could seep inside the skin and cause a very bad infection.

After you have removed the oil, dry the area. You can wash with a tannic acid solution and crush and rub jewelweed on the affected area to treat plant-caused rashes. You can make tannic acid by find an oak tree and boiling the bark and if fire is not available, by crushing the bark in water and dabbing it on the affected part of the body.

You should also avoid wilted plants. Just because it looks dead does not mean it cannot hurt you. In fact some plants, like the black cherry, become toxic after death. Many contain hydrocyanic acid.

Learn to identify and use plants before a survival situation is allowed to evolve. Some sources of information about edible plants are pamphlets, books, films, nature trails, botanical gardens, local markets, and local natives. Gather and cross-reference information from as many sources as possible in your area and be aware of what you can eat locally.

Survival

Avoiding Fish and Mollusks With Toxic Flesh

In a survivalist situation it might be necessary to start fishing to find food to survive. However this can be challenging because if you are in the wild there are no real rules that can help you tell edible fish from those that are poisonous.

However if a fish is going to be poisonous it is most likely to be living in shallow water around reefs or lagoons. The most poisonous fish also have boxy or round bodies with hard shell-like skins that are covered with bony plates and spines. A mouth like a parrot, small gills or no belly fins might also mean that the fish is poisons.

Many fish that feed off tropical reefs are poisonous because they carry ciguatera which is a toxin that lives in the coral they feed from. Avoid fish taken from beaches with crushed coral bottoms.

Most poisonous fish also tend to live on the leeward side of an island. Usually there are patches of living corals mixed with open sea. This is usually the type of off-shore hang out of poison fish.

If the water seems discoloured do not try to catch and eat the fish swimming in it. This can indicated that toxic plankton has taken over the water.

Fish in the windward side of or in deep passages. It is the deep water fish that are usually not poisonous.

Even though they look a bit like snails and seem like that are delicious you should never eat any type of animal that lives in a cone shell. Toxins from these can paralyse you. You should never pick one up because if it stings you can suffer from weakness, loss of coordination, numbness and other severe problems.

If you are in the Caribbean or Florida and fishing for octopus you should avoid a creature called The Blue Ringed Octopus. This octopus bites and its venom contains tetrodotoxin that blocks sodium channels and causes respiratory failure. You can identify this octopus by the fact that it is normally a dark yellowish brown but when it is disturbed the octopus develops blue rings.

If you are in tropical waters at the other end of the world you should also avoid the stone fish. This is one of the most venomous of fish. It looks exactly a stone. It is perfectly camouflaged against a rock. If it stings you it is fatal.