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 kilgore
Stranger
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 2
Last seen: 18 years, 6 months
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 Oregon Noobish Inquiry 
#4771958 - 10/08/05 03:05 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Good morning!
I've been happily perusing your site and forums, and have finally convinced myself to have a go at mushroom hunting. The best case scenario would involve finding an experienced "shroom connoisseur," but that's unfortunately not an option that's open to me; the closest person I've got I wouldn't trust with a butter knife, let alone proper mushroom identification. Also unfortunately, it appears my google-fu is pretty poor. I've found a few good sites (and honestly lots of great information), but just not enough to give me any sense of confidence.
My question:
I will be doing my searching in the W. Valley. Not wanting to overload myself, I've been focussing on just two potential "quarries": liberty caps and cyans. Are these appropriate choices?
More importantly (and the real reason I'm posting): could someone give me/point me in the right direction of information regarding possible "dangerous lookalikes" of these two that may also be growing HERE in western Oregon?
What important characteristics are used to differentiate between them?
I feel like I'm starting to get a good grip on what exactly I'm looking for, but I don't want to end up a month down the road sitting in a hospital bed (or worse!) being told: yeah, you should have poked them with a wet noodle to see if they caught fire. That always means they're poisonous when they do that.
Thanks all!
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falcon
Registered: 04/01/02
Posts: 8,043
Last seen: 3 hours, 52 minutes
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Re: Oregon Noobish Inquiry [Re: kilgore]
#4772125 - 10/08/05 06:44 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Galerinas are one group you should know before you hunt.
There are links to sites here with good info on identification:
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2263556/an/0/page/0
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GulGen
Old Bird
Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 307
Loc: I live in the Internet
Last seen: 16 years, 10 months
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 Re: Oregon Noobish Inquiry [Re: kilgore]
#4772783 - 10/08/05 12:19 PM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Noobish though it may be, that's a great way to start off. An intelligent post showing concern for safety gets you a hell of a lot more respect than saying that you just ate some random mushrooms you found and asking how hard you're going to trip. I haven't even been around here too long and I've seen several first posts along those lines.
To actually answer your questions, I think you're on the right track, and I second Falcon's suggestion that you familiarize yourself with galerinas. You can more or less differentiate by appearance a lot of the time, but always check the spore prints to be certain. As I recall psilocybes proper are purplish-brown and galerinas are a rusty brown.
If they catch on fire when you poke them with a wet noodle they're pretty tasty edibles, but will make you sick if you eat them with pasta.
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vc77
incarnate
Registered: 06/27/04
Posts: 1,302
Loc: PNW US
Last seen: 4 years, 20 days
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Re: Oregon Noobish Inquiry [Re: GulGen]
#4773183 - 10/08/05 02:45 PM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Welcome to the Shroomery, you've found the right place. I usually wouldn't reply to a "yo I wanna trip where can i find some shroomz", but your mature approach shows a great attitude and mindset towards the great world of mycology.
The Williamette Valley is home to both Cyans and Liberty Caps; The competition is low, so there is enough to go around for everyone.
Your best bet, would be to hunt for cyans, they are easy to find, easy to ID, and will be flushing strong until late Nov. They do have look-a-likes, BUT, cyans are very easy to distinguish once you are familiar with them.
Some characteristics to note:
-Cyans bruise blue, scratch the stem with your fingernail and and give it about 10 minutes.
-Cyans have white stems, and most look-a-likes will have an orangeish stem.
-With ageing, the caps will turn to a cream buff, starting with the inside first. A good image to show this:
Some good places to start looking are parks, college campuses, apartment complexes, anywhere with hardwood barkchips used for landscaping. Avoid the dark brown/red bark chips, as they will void you nothing. They LOVE to hide under leaves, I cannot stress this enough, some of the biggest yields I harvested were hiding under leaves scattered around rhodes, trees, rosebushes. Here is a picture I took which shows what I mean:
Probobly the best advice anyone can give you for mushroom hunting; It doesn't hurt to get down and dirty. It takes a little bit to be able to shrug off all the awkward stares, but get in and around bushes, one step at a time. Watch where your walking, and make your way around.
Well, good luck. I'm in Germany as of now, but I done a good bit of hunting in the W. Valley, so if you need any more tips or whatever, go ahead and give me a PM.
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kilgore
Stranger
Registered: 10/08/05
Posts: 2
Last seen: 18 years, 6 months
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Re: Oregon Noobish Inquiry [Re: kilgore]
#4775752 - 10/09/05 02:25 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Thank you so much, you guys really are brilliantly helpful. I'll definitely be looking for cyans - cedar chips seem to be the norm (read: rule) in my immediate area, but I'll do my best to see what I can find. There must be something. Regarding liberty caps: are they specifically limited to cow pastures? I have freerange access to tons of potentially ideal hunting ground, but it's all strictly Sheep Territory. Will I be wasting my time, or am I on the right track?
I'm chomping at the bit to get started tomorrow!
(thanks again, you marvelously magnanimous magistrates of mycological mysticism)
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libhunter
Stranger
Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 4
Last seen: 18 years, 2 months
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Re: Oregon Noobish Inquiry [Re: kilgore]
#4775817 - 10/09/05 03:12 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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In my experience hunting liberty's I've actually done way more picking
in Rye grass seed fields. It can take alot of foot work to finally
find the right field [grass seed or cow pasture] so don't give up if
you don't find any right away... I personally enjoy the hell out of
combing the willamette valley countryside. Just keep in mind that
some folks may not have the best attitudes about people wandering
around their home turf so use your better judgement... but don't wimp out either! most people are pretty relaxed about it if you act
respectfully.
I
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