>>1881749I totally agree with being cautious. When I decided to start foraging mushrooms the first 2 things I did were buy a field guide for my region, and take a class from a local expert. And I'm not out there picking mushrooms where the only difference between a tasty meal and a melted liver is 1 micrometer on the spore diameter. But caution is not what goes through the average person's mind, it is fear and ignorance. There are mushrooms out there that are practically impossible to ID incorrectly if you know the small handful of distinguishing characteristics: chanterelle, morel, lion's mane, indigo milky (seriously tell me pic related isn't the most distinctive mushroom you've seen). Chanterelles do have a look-alike (to the untrained eye) in North America where I am, Omphalotus illudens, but if you know what to look for they're easy to distinguish.
>>1881656Yeah, your friends are probably like most everyone else: afraid because they do not know better. However...
>regular berries>what kind of berries even kill someone?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana#Toxicity,_poisoning_and_mortalityYou do still absolutely need to be careful when you're picking fruits or vegetables from the wild. Of course, the poisonous things will vary from region to region, so you also shouldn't assume you know what's safe and what isn't if you go somewhere you're not familiar with.
>>1882033Use GIMP to edit the images, export as JPEG and set the quality parameter down to like 50. Saves a lot on space.
