Food that can be found in the uninhabited. What will you do if you find yourself on a desert island? What you need to survive
In fact, cases of survival on desert island not so much compared to other regions of the Earth. This is because uninhabited islands are usually located far from populated cities and settlements. After all, you still need to swim to them somehow, so the mere arrival of a person on such an island, with his subsequent survival, is quite rare phenomenon in our life. People visit such islands for some purpose, but everything usually works out well with them.
However, if there is a question, then let us answer it. Let's look at all the features of human survival on a desert island. So that if you and I ever find ourselves in such conditions, we can act calmly and think soberly.
Most of you romantics think tropical islands earthly paradise. In part, of course, you are right, but not everything is so simple. It’s one thing when you come to Thailand on vacation on a package deal, or on your own, and another thing when a survival situation takes you by surprise. The point is that in the first case you are in control, you can do what you want in your resort, but in a critical situation you find yourself locked in a cage, in this tropical prison, surrounded by a sea with sharks and big waves.
Therefore, when you have lost control of the situation, as time increases, your psychological state will change from euphoria to panic. All these colorful landscapes: palm trees, snow-white sand, blue Lagoon- will even cause you something similar to disgust. Plus, the hot sun will hit your body like a laser burning through paper.
Water extraction
Therefore, the very first and most important thing in the conditions of survival on a desert tropical island is the extraction of water. Water is the key to your salvation and survival. If you own an unlimited source fresh water- consider the rest to fall into place somehow. In the article How to get water on a desert island, I have already described ways to get fresh water, but let’s talk about them again:
Look for fallen or low-hanging coconut fruit. Do not climb tall palm trees, you may fall from them!
see if there are any old wells on the beach, since the island was most likely previously inhabited (albeit temporarily) by people.
the island may have rocky outcrops in some part of it, there may be rainwater in cracks and crevices, look for it. You can drink and/or collect it using some kind of tube or hose found among the trash on the beach (of which, I assure you, there is a lot).
try to build a solar desalination plant by digging a hole and covering it with a waterproof film (if you were able to find one). Never drink sea water!
Place all containers found on the beach to collect rainwater.
Construction of a shelter
After water, the next point of survival is shelter. Due to the fact that it is already warm in the tropics, there is no need to fence anything serious or major. It is enough to simply build some kind of canopy, i.e. a roof over your head and a bed. The canopy will protect you from both rain and direct sunlight, creating shade and making your survival more comfortable. Place the bed at some distance from the ground so that insects do not crawl towards you.
A canopy can be constructed in various ways. If you already have a piece of some kind of film, then stretch it, while making sure that rain moisture flows from it into some container. If you do not own any kind of film, you will have to make a roof from plant materials. Coconut palm leaves are well suited for these purposes. Don't settle in the jungle of the island, but make your camp on the beach. From the beach you will have a clear view of passing ships, and the breeze will drive mosquitoes away from you. Remember that mosquitoes in the tropics carry various diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. And also know that all the monsters and women of the island that scare you at night with their rustling noises are located in the jungle, do not settle there!
Foraging
The next point in our program is getting food. Just like with water, I have already taken care of you, dear friend, and wrote an article: How to get food in the rainforest, so read it, but we will also go over the main points here:
coconuts, both fallen (which is even better) and hanging.
snails and mollusks on the coastal rocks and coastline.
Coconut crabs (palm thief) hide in the jungle of the island and are caught using traps.
Shark-tailed rays and stingrays (or others) are caught at shallow depths using a spear. Be careful with the stingray!
fish, if you find ways to catch them.
There may be mice and rats on the island, they can be caught and eaten. There are no basements there, so the rats are not as dirty as in the city, and you shouldn’t disdain their meat!
at a relatively shallow depth, you can get a sea tridacna from the bottom if you know what it looks like. (sea tridacna is an endangered species!).
You can look for larvae in the bark and wood of trees (especially rotten ones). They can also be used for fishing, as bait.
depending on the soils of the island (either coral or volcanic island) in fertile soils you can look for earthworms, which are rich in protein.
Feral domestic pigs and goats may live on the island; you can try to catch them. However, such luxury is unlikely to be present on your island!
birds nesting on the island. Look for their eggs and try to catch them themselves. Can be obtained using traps.
the island may have old plantings of taro, cassava, bananas, mangoes, papaya, and cucumbers. If you find traces of human presence on the island, then inspect the island for old plantings. Perhaps the island is still used by people who are temporarily absent. However, you shouldn’t hope to find a vegetable garden.
There are not many edible wild plants on the islands. In addition to coconut, pandan and black berries grow there, similar (in appearance and taste) to bird cherry. Other edible wild plants are unlikely.
The main rule of getting food in survival conditions on a desert island is to try to spend fewer calories searching for food than you consume. Save your energy, don’t waste it on various unnecessary physical work, don’t climb those damn palm trees!))
Starting a fire
Having water, shelter and at least some food, we will need fire. With the help of fire, you can boil questionable water, killing bacteria, and also heat-treat caught food of animal origin. In addition, food can be smoked, thereby prolonging its preservation. Like food, fire is difficult to obtain. Despite the hot climate of the tropics, the humidity in the air makes any tinder and any dry leaves slightly damp, making it much more difficult to start a fire. Locals For cooking in the hearth, kerosene is often used as an igniter. There is also high humidity on islands in non-tropical zones.
Therefore, you should not think that now, like in some movie, you will rub two sticks and immediately get coals. I assure you that you will face great problems in making fire on the island. I believe that the surest way to make fire is with a bow. Extraction by friction using a bow. Other friction methods are much less effective than the bow. Spend time making it (a bowstring can be made from any rope, shoe lace, tree bark, etc.), but then you can use it constantly, like a lighter, because one day your fireplace will go out and you will have to start the fire again. Having even the smallest coals you can fan them into a real fire. Keeping coals in a constantly burning state is very problematic; you need a lot of firewood, which you will have to spend a lot of calories to prepare; firewood tends to burn out quickly, especially at night when you are sleeping. Therefore, it is important to gain access to start a fire again and again, this is what the bow will provide you with.
Safety on the island
One of the most important factors for survival on a desert island is safety. However, there are not many dangers on the island, but the very moment of isolation can increase the risks from these dangers. Let's try to list them.
Physical danger. An attack by large mammals is excluded; there are none on the islands, only the possibility of an attack by sharks in the open sea. Island rats are harmless, but can spread infections (such as dengue fever). The stingray sting is very painful. Possibility of stepping on a stone fish. Injury from the sharp edges of corals and coral stones/rocks, which can also lead to infection and high temperature. Falling from a tree/palm. A blow to the head from a falling coconut can be fatal, be careful especially during a storm!
Bacterial danger. Possibility of contracting bacteria that will cause severe diarrhea and/or fever. Possibility of contracting malaria and dengue fever from mosquitoes (even death). Tetanus in the wound (use anti-tetanus shot).
Bites. The centipede can sting painfully, it is active in rainy weather, and can crawl into your home. Snakes, at night they can converge on the fire, be careful. Mosquitoes, especially in thickets.
Non-healing wounds. Wounds in such a climate tend not to heal for a long time, fester and continue to be fresh, increasing in size; they are caused by bacteria. An ordinary pimple can begin to fester and, in extreme cases, even lead to gangrene, followed by amputation! This is the harsh truth of the tropics.
Getting out of the island
We have provided ourselves with the most basic conditions for life, but any act of survival in conditions wildlife consists in trying to get away from this state as quickly as possible, i.e. leaving for civilization. You can sail away yourself, by building a floating facility or with the help of other people. For these purposes, it is necessary to equip the island with signaling components with which we could attract the attention of passing ships.
The most basic condition is to make you noticeable and stand out from the sameness of the island landscape. Prepare dry palm leaves and branches to quickly build a signal fire, if necessary. The fire should be made in the form of a hut, and what is important is not so much the fire as the smoke from the fire, which develops many meters upward. To do this, throw raw leaves onto a blazing fire - it will not burn, but will give off thick smoke. It is the smoke that will attract people. Practice building signal fires
Using my knowledge of the uninhabited islands of the world, I came to the conclusion that in our (real) situation, if suddenly you, or I, find ourselves in a survival situation on an island, then sail from it yourself on a homemade craft, like Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away or Bear Grylls in a popular show - makes no sense. Therefore, we are more likely to be noticed by someone in a passing boat than we will be able to get to civilization on a homemade craft. After all, it is not known how long we will have to drift in the open sea (ocean) before someone picks us up. However, if you have absolutely no hope left, then you can try this method.
Just in modern times there are many more boats than in the days of Robinson Crusoe, so no, no, but someone will sail by. And all the islands are someone’s property, fishermen fish in the lagoons, and coconut palms are grown on the islands. Therefore, even uninhabited islands are visited by people from time to time. The plot of the film Outcast, where the hero sat on the island (in my opinion) for 4 years - absolutely
How to get food in the rainforest if you are in a survival situation? Although the tropical climate is favorable for the biodiversity of flora and fauna, obtaining food in such a forest is often difficult. Especially if you are quite picky.
In dwells a large number of species diversity of organisms, but not all forests are the same, and not everything in them is edible. Many of you think that the jungle is an edible supermarket, but it is not so. The most necessary things grow there only because someone planted them there earlier.
For example, the well-known one grows most often along the shores of islands. And if you meet her in the depths of the forest, large islands or the mainland, then know that these palm trees were planted by people. It’s the same with bananas: if you come across a grove of wild bananas in the jungle, then it was previously someone’s plantation or it still is to this day. Deep in the dense tropical forests there is very little food to eat. And some uninhabited islands do not have a single coconut tree at all, and their resources are very scarce.
Take, for example, the inhabitants of New Guinea - these are Papuan tribes who live by traditional methods to this day. They live in dense jungles and rely heavily on the sago palm for their diet.
They extract sago from it, grind the wood and extract the starch-containing component in the soaked state. Sago is pure starch, which they store in powder form and eat as an instant puree. The finished product looks like this:
Due to its high starch content, sago is a carbohydrate product, instead of our potatoes or tropical cassava. Due to the great distance from the coastline, the Papuans do not have the opportunity for good ocean fishing. They are forced to be content with what they have. They catch frogs, small fish in the stream, and small river shrimp. To do this, they build dams on the stream, blocking the path of water, and, therefore, fish. Then they scoop up the water from the pool until all the inhabitants can be simply collected by hand or with a special net. The average catch is usually very small - you can hardly fill your belly with such food and you have to be content with what you have.
In addition to the sago palm, pandanus (pandan) grows wild. Its leaves are suitable for roofing, and its fruits are suitable for food. Pandan fruit cannot be confused with anything else. It grows everywhere.
Among other things, in dense tropical forests you can feed on various larvae, but you should avoid those that do not inspire confidence in you. For example, all creatures with a bright, poisonous color clearly look suspicious. Woodworm larvae are a well-known delicacy for many Aboriginal people. They contain a lot of protein, and, unlike meat protein, it is absorbed much better. You can eat them both raw and in heat-treated form, as you like! Here they are, beauties, in the photo:
For larger game, you will need traps, snares and a bow. You will see about this in another article. Now let’s move on, get out of the dense thickets of the tropical forest of the mainland/large island and approach the coastline, the coral beach. Actually, let's look at how to get food now on a small coral or volcanic-coral origin.
Well, I won’t write about coconuts, you can guess for yourself. Just don’t climb onto the palm tree, otherwise you’ll fall again. Get food on coral atoll without going into the sea, you can. For example, various birds like to nest on such islands and leave their eggs. Some are left directly on tree branches and can be collected by hand.
Also on such islands live the largest representatives of crustaceans: the palm thief crab, or the coconut crab. They feed on the flesh of fallen coconuts and have a large shell filled with tender crab meat.
Just look at these delicious claws! That's it, really welcome guest to the table!
Out of hopelessness, you can catch hermit crabs; they are easy to catch, especially at night. But it’s not worth spending time on them without the need, since there is very little meat in them, due to their small size.
Having entered the sea, walking around coral reef lagoons, you can find other inhabitants of this ecosystem. For example, sea cucumbers, which look extremely unappetizing, but are quite edible even raw. By the way, they make sushi from them.
Also edible sea urchins Having broken off the needles, they are carefully opened, like an egg, and the insides are eaten. Only small young specimens are suitable for food!
In addition to bird eggs, you can catch the birds themselves using loops. There is also a chance of seeing chicks falling out of the nest. Some bird species reach quite decent sizes.
You can eat various bivalve mollusks, but some of them are poisonous, and some reach such sizes that you cannot eat one at a time! Here, for example, is a giant mollusk - a sea tridacna:
To hunt larger fish we need a spear. Walking along the shallow lagoon, you can see many fish that you can spear. A spear for fishing should be made with at least 3 tips, but more is better, since with such a spear it will be easier to hit our target.
As you can see, only two points pierced the fish, and if the spear had been single, it might not have been pierced at all.
Among other things, you can find wild almond seeds on the sandy coast. They are edible, grow everywhere and look like this:
Remember the 4th type. If you are walking along sandy shore, if you find such balls under your feet, you can find almond seeds in them. They are edible, I have eaten them myself.
God forbid someone ends up on a desert island. However, if this happens, you need to learn to survive and be prepared in advance. An unprepared or weak person will die.
First you need to calm down, collect your thoughts and look around. You need to come to terms with this situation and not expect help from anyone.
A person can go two weeks without food, but without water he will not live more than 3-4 days. The first step is to look for sources of fresh water, not food. If you are on the seashore, then this should be done as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances should you drink sea water. This is a slow and painful death. Most people die in the first days precisely because they cannot find water. This is the main mistake.
What to do first
Now find safe place for housing as close as possible to fresh water. You shouldn't panic. You need to think clearly. Panic and loss of control in such a situation will immediately lead to your death.
It might sound stupid, but you can make yourself a fictional buddy to talk to. This will help you calm down.
Evaluate your resources. Do you have a source of fresh water? Do you have a telephone, radio, walkie-talkie or other means of communication? Are there other people? People are always good. It will be easier this way. If there are people, then everyone must work together. There should be one goal for each person. A close-knit team will get out of any difficult situation.
Fire. This may seem like a trivial thing on a desert island, but fire is always necessary. He can even just support people morally. Fire is used to distill water, to cook food, to scare away wild animals, etc. If you can't start a fire, don't worry, you can do it if necessary. Life will teach you. For now, read on.
Build housing. Housing should be in a safe, warm, shady area for sleeping, resting, storing resources, and hiding from animals. Try to make housing above ground so that no insects, snakes, etc. I couldn't crawl in there.
Look at the water. Any water source is good as long as it is available and you can purify and desalinate it.
If you find sources of fresh water, it is recommended to boil it initially to ensure it is safe. If you have a special filter, that's great.
If there is no fresh water on the island, you need to do distillation and desalination sea water. To do this, you need to find a container and fill it with sea water or even urine in case of emergency. In the center of the container you need to place a smaller container and make something like a funnel. Now you need to cover the whole thing with a lid and keep it on fire. The water will evaporate (steam is clean, drinkable water), hit the lid, condense, and end up in a smaller container. Here you can drink this water and not be afraid of the consequences. This is the purest water.
You can also do this in the sun, but then you will need the widest, flat and not deep surface possible, from which the water will quickly evaporate. However, in this case you will have to wait a very long time.
What to eat on the island
Find a constant power source. There are many edible roots and berries, but be careful! Some of them are poisonous. Eat only if you are confident that the food is safe. Eat little by little and find the right food through trial and error.
Observe what the animals eat. It's most likely safe. Create traps and catch animals. All animals can be eaten. Be sure to catch fish. You can always find a stick, a fishing line can be made from clothing, and a hook can be carved from wood.
Try to make contact. Build a large, unnaturally shaped element using bright colors and shiny objects. Using a walkie-talkie or telephone, if available, contact everyone you can. Even if you don’t find rescuers, people will definitely report you. Make a sign out of stones or dig a sign on the ground, visible from afar and from above. These distress signals will help you escape if they are noticed by others. If you can make a bright flash or explosion, do it all the time when you see planes, helicopters or ships. Use mirrors, fire high altitude, flashlights, fireworks and anything else that might attract attention.
If you know you will be rescued, just relax. You've done everything. Support yourself and rest while waiting for help. Try to relax and make the best of this scary time. If you have someone to have fun and play with, then good. If there is someone to bury, bury it. There are all sorts of situations in life.
Never give up. Desperate actions can be fatal to you and others with you. There are no mistakes or weaknesses to be made here. Willpower is what allows people to survive without food for several weeks. Without the will to live, you won't last even three days.
Of course, each situation is unique and requires individual approach. Take time to think about what you have, who is with you, what you need, what you can do, and so on.
Warnings
Never drink salt water as a last resort. Salt dehydrates you and makes it worse. It's better not to drink at all. Relief can only come for a while. As a last resort, drink urine. However, do not store urine in a bottle. Only fresh urine is sterile. Later it can no longer be used. In addition, you can only drink the first passage of urine. You should not drink your own urine a second time, as this can lead to kidney failure. You need to make a desalination plant. You should get clean water, leaving salts and impurities. Otherwise, the effect will be even worse than when drinking salty sea water.
- Do not eat jellyfish or fish that inflate, have spines, beaks, etc.
- Avoid eating snakes and other brightly colored animals, as they may be poisonous.
- Rub the leaves and taste their juice. If it burns your hands or tongue, it is most likely poison.
Things you'll need to survive on a desert island.
- Knife. The knife is the most versatile tool ever invented. You can do almost anything with a knife. Also find stones to sharpen it.
- Toothbrush or floss. Don't forget to take care of yourself and brush your teeth. Toothache is one of the worst. You can flatten wood to make a toothbrush.
- Cloth. Find warm clothes or make your own from animal or tree skins.
- Water and food respectively.
Now you know what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation. We hope this doesn't happen!
