Aside from water, you’ll also need food to survive in the jungle. Your main food options are edible plants, fruit, insects, and fish. You’ll have to figure it out on your own unless you have a guidebook on edible plant kinds. Eating an unknown plant can be fatal, thus it’s best to try to obtain nourishment elsewhere rather than risk eating a dangerous plant. When foraging for plants, you may ask: How to find food in the jungle? It is easier to know the answer.
How to find food in the jungle?
To find food in the jungle, you must aim at looking for fruit and mushrooms, however, be sure to bring your guidebook to know which ones you can safely eat. Here are a few guidelines to check:
- Plants bearing white or yellow berries should be avoided.
- Eat no mushrooms. Some are safe, but many are exceedingly toxic and even lethal, so the risk is not worth taking.
- Plants having thorns should be avoided.
- Spit it out if it tastes bitter or soapy.
- Avoid brightly colored leaves.
- Avoid plants that have three or more leaves.
- Avoid plants with umbrella-shaped blooms.
- Beans and plants with seeds inside pods should be avoided.
- Sap that is milky or discolored is a red flag.
- Anything with an almond scent should be avoided.
Fruit may be found all across the forest. Everything from mangoes and bananas to wild yams and sugarcane can be found depending on where you are. Coconuts, sugarcane, figs, papaya, and taro root are also good sources of food in tropical jungles. Before visiting any jungle or rainforest, become acquainted with the indigenous edible fruits.
Protein can also be obtained from insects. Except for the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, more than 1,400 types are consumed on a regular basis around the world. The procedure is known as entomophagy, and it has been practiced for generations. Unfortunately, unless you know what you’re doing, there’s no way to tell if an insect is edible. However, there are some broad criteria that can help you decide:
- Keep away from vividly colored insects.
- Avoid insects that have a strong odor.
- Eat no hairy animals or bugs that bite or sting.
- Worms, grubs, and termites are abundant in the forest and provide an excellent source of protein. If you had access to clean water, you could live for months on insects alone. Beetles can also be a hearty meal, but some of them contain parasites. Cooking it is an excellent approach to ensure your safety. Toxins are normally neutralized by a good boiling or slow roast.
How to fish and hunt in the jungle?
Plants, fruits, and insects are vital survival commodities, but if you really want a good source of protein, you’ll have to put your skills to the test as a fisherman. It is feasible to hunt for meat, but it is difficult and risky. In any case, there aren’t many mammals in the bush that you’d want to eat. In fact, the desert has more protein than the rainforest floor [source: The Nature Conservancy]. Hunting tactics like as tracking and spearing, using a sling or a constructed blow gun, are taught to native tribes for centuries and are extremely difficult to perfect. They’d most likely result in wasted energy and no food. Then there’s the reality that meat doesn’t keep for very long. Overall, unless you’re an expert survivalist, you’d be better off fishing than hunting.
The Amazon River has more than twice as many fish species as the Atlantic Ocean. The piranha is one of these. They’re edible, but there’s not much meat on them, so stick to other fish. Piranhas, despite their reputation, rarely disturb humans; nevertheless, if you have an open wound, avoid getting into the water; they are attracted to the fragrance of blood. Pirarucu is another name for a type of catfish. It is the world’s largest freshwater fish, and a single one may produce up to 150 pounds (70 kg) of meat.
Spear fishing is probably your best choice unless you have a survival bag with some fishing gear. Bamboo is abundant in the bush and makes an excellent spear. Once you’ve discovered a 6- to 8-foot (1.8- to 2.4-meter) piece of bamboo,
- Make two intersecting crosscuts about 6 inches (15 cm) deep at one end to create four prongs.
- Wedging the vine into the cracks will help you separate the prongs.
- Sharpen the prongs with a knife or a stone.
You now possess a four-pronged fishing spear. Now comes the difficult part: spearing the fish. Find a rock to stand on or wade into knee-deep water once you’ve arrived to the river or stream. To prevent scaring the fish away, move gently and deliberately. Hold the spear in both hands, the pointed end a few feet above the surface. When you see your victim, you can strike quickly. When you see a fish, stop and wait for it to swim close to you. Once within range, stab rapidly and strongly to try to pin the fish to a boulder or the stream bed. Just keep in mind that practice makes perfect. You might not get one on your first try, but if you stick with it, you’ll ultimately get the hang of it.
Can you drink rain water in the jungle? Let’s check it out.
Cook your fish after you’ve caught it to enhance the flavor. You don’t need a skillet or a deep fryer to make a primitive oven; all you need is a fire and some rocks:
- For two to three hours, heat 6 to 8 medium-sized rocks in a fire.
- Make a 1-foot-deep, 2-foot-wide hole in the ground (30 and 60 cm).
- Using a tree branch, carefully transfer the heated rocks into the hole.
- Wrap your fish with large, non-toxic green leaves multiple times and tie it off with vine. The leaves of the banana tree are big and safe to use.
- Cover the wrapped fish with dirt and place it on top of the rocks.
After about an hour, remove the fish and serve with your cooked dinner.
