Thread: Post your Wildlife pictures.

Originally Posted by HumbleDreamer

The moon last night....

wow, looks amazing

^ Thank you!

Spoiler for STUFF:

This is from early last year 2020.

Here's my conjunction picture from Dec. 22 - it was even closer on the 21st. I think we had a good view latitude-wise!



The moon-rise over Kissimmee Prairie.



Kissimmee Prairie

I stumbled upon these stacked stones a month or so ago on my normal morning walk in the nature center. I actually went up and gently touched that large one.....it had to weight at least 80 pounds. Later that after noon most were gone and the rest were scattered about the next day they were all gone.

Spoiler for BUGS:

Spoiler for Big pics:

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Pika boo! 20210805_110847.jpg

Spoiler for Honey Mushroom:

Spoiler for Cave:

Spoiler for View from Mount Leconte:

Spoiler for Purple Gilled Laccaria:

Spoiler for Stinkhorns:

Spoiler for Lactarius (Milkcap):

Spoiler for Amanita (possibly flavoconia - Yellow Patches) - very poisonous:

Spoiler for ??? Some Amanita:

Spoiler for BIG:

Spoiler for LION'S MANE. :

Pictures from Cayo Costa. It was very COLD and windy.

Spoiler for Pretty nice find:

Spoiler for My new friend:

Spoiler for Dawn hike 1:

Spoiler for Dawn hike 2:

Spoiler for Anyone want to go shelling:

Spoiler for Hmm:

I found a secret place where if you look closely enough, you can see shells poking out of the ground. I dug some up. Here's one after it's been cleaned up. They have this beautiful amber color because of the time soaking in the dirt. They are very old shells. Also, the circular part that's a different color near the bottom? That's the part that was sticking up out of the ground - that's how I found it.

Spoiler for All cleaned up:

Here are the others. They still need their baths.

Spoiler for o/ Shells, shells, shells o/:

Video: They kept going back and forth. I think they were curious. I saw them at dawn two days in a row (the other two mornings were too cold and windy to go down there).

Purple beauty

This trip was just me, my mom, and my daughter. Girl party.

Spoiler for Sunrise:

Spoiler for Sunset:

Spoiler for Endless Beach:

Spoiler for Humble Abode:

Spoiler for She's still alive (I put her back):

Spoiler for Buried Treasure:

Spoiler for Horse Conchs:

Spoiler for Weird Bug:

Spoiler for Gopher Tortoise:

I've been having fun learning how to identify wild plants. Wow, it's way easier than mushrooms are. I went for a walk around my neighborhood area today and here are some of the things I've recently learned to identify.

Sea Grapes (edible!)


Virginia Creeper (Poisonous )


Cocoplum (edible! It makes big grapes. It tastes like a blueberry skin on the outside, and the inside is a creamy mildly sweet flavor. These are not ripe).


Air Potato (poisonous! It's invasive, makes tons of "potatoes", but they are all bad bad bad)


Rosary Pea (Absolutely DEADLY, invasive, growing everywhere. One time we were friends with a hiker who tried to make a necklace out of them, it burned her skin)


My favorite. Smilax / "Greenbrier". Edible, and a true survival food. Berries are edible but not really worth it. It makes green shoots that can be quite big, they taste like green beans apparently? Also - most important - the root is an edible and potato-like. It will often form root clusters from what I've learned, so it's a lot of food you can get. Can be ground into a flour, too.
Root is here:

Bidens pilosa (Blackjacks) This is a very safe and edible weed. All parts edible. It grows everywhere. If I were ever in a situation where I needed to find food in the wild, I would gather these up first.


Muscadine Grapes (edible )


This is so much fun. I took two cuttings (smilax and muscadine). I wonder if I can get them to grow on the fence.

My find today: Florida Cherries!!!



I can't believe how good they taste. I've never had them before, so it was a brand new fruit experience. They are amazing!! Very different to anything else I've ever tasted. It's just like a lucid dream where you try a new fruit.



When I first saw this, I was like "What???" It's a Bitter Melon. Also edible! (SEE EDIT BELOW) They are just growing wild on the fences by the sidewalk.



A wild Yucca tree, just hangin out in the jungle. I could dig this up and score a lot of edible roots (I won't, but I could!). Edit: Well. Apparently Yucca and Yuca are different. While this plant does have edible trunks, leaves, flowers, and edible fruits, the roots are not edible.



This was on the side of the road, in some bushes. I love these. They fall from the trees sometimes, and sometimes people cut them down and throw them away. I've come across piles before that people have thrown away, taken home 50+ coconuts (today just one). What I do is stick them in the fridge until they are icey cold, then puncture them with this augur thing I have. Then I just put a straw in it. Heaven! The leftover ones I've drained into plastic bottles and frozen for later. They are so yummy!

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EDIT:

Originally Posted by Hilary

When I first saw this, I was like "What???" It's a Bitter Melon. Also edible! They are just growing wild on the fences by the sidewalk.

Just want to update. I looked into this "Balsam Apple" and apparently it's only edible when green and boiled twice. Once it turns orange it is TOXIC. Glad I did not eat it. I did research it when I got home first because I would not eat something I wasn't 100% sure on.

So if you do see one of these, just leave it alone. I probably wouldn't even bother with it when green unless I was truly starving.

My new baby:



It's a smilax cutting that I dipped in rooting hormone and planted. I hope it survives. I never grow anything, so I'm quite attached to my little baby here. He's been hanging out in a cup of water for a week now.

At Nana's house (my mother in law), I found this growing wild. It's on my bucket list of wild edibles to find:



This is Black Nightshade. It's a tricky plant because it's quite toxic when unripe, and one variant is considered deadly (Belladonna). However, this variant has edible berries when ripe.

After researching, I ... went ahead and tried 1 berry. (hehe!) It tastes amazing, for starters. Really loved the taste. Basically it tastes like a tomato, but a little sweet! Like a blueberry tomato! Never had anything like it in my life. Love love love.

This plant is a little risky (DON'T get it confused with Deadly Nightshade "Belladonna").

This is a dangerous hobby to be sure. It's also thrilling... Anyway, it's been several hours and I feel fine.

Really beautiful morning. This is what the field behind our house looks like:



(sorry for sneezing)

Found these the other day. Apparently the little potatoes (which are actually water storage sacs) are edible raw or cooked.





It's a type of sword fern and apparently there are no look alikes to worry about. Still, I tried 1/2 of one raw and got a tummy ache. Think I will pass on these.

Last night I picked some Bidens pilosa (Black Jacks). It's a weed that grows everywhere and is edible. You have to cook it though because it does contain saponins (mild toxin). You can eat a little raw. I tried one raw leaf and it was tangy. A bit too flavorful. Then I cooked the rest. THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Like spinach. Maybe better.



I only made a little though because it was a test run. I did not get sick.

Fast forward to today. I had a fun adventure.

Found some more Nightshade!



And unripe Florida (Surinam) Cherries



And Cabbage Palm berries. They have a weird taste, very unique, but I like it. I can't really describe it. But mostly, I am collecting them because I heard Native Americans would make a flour from the seeds. I want to try it.



BEST FIND. Total gold mine, if I can figure out where the root is. Biggest survival item to look for if society ever collapsed and the grocery stores closed, according to Green Deane. Why? Because this here my friends... is the Winged Yam. The Purple Potato. It's not only edible (when cooked), but it forms tubers that are 5-30 lbs!! Yes, up to 30 lbs!! According to Green Deane, it's common to find 10 lb ones.



It was kind of hard to find because there's a very close look alike that is POISONOUS and all over (the Air Potato). You have to have the two leaves on the same stem side by side, not one leaf. There are other differences, too. Thrilled too have found it, but, when I went to try and dig up the root, I got bit by mosquitoes. I decided to come back another time with bug spray on. We'll see, it might be hard to find.



Then I climbed over some rocks to get to the other side of this canal.

(looking back)



I found the elusive White Cocoplum!! According to Green Deane, it's the rarest color.



I found blue ones, too. I ate them for dessert



More Smilax.



Stinking Passionflower fruit growing all over. I am not sure if I am ready to try this one yet, though it's supposedly edible. I looked inside.. it looked kind of weird.







On my way home I found a big mango.



It's a tree that's hanging over a fence, and the mango was on the ground on community property. I call that fair game!

Originally Posted by Hilary

BEST FIND. Total gold mine, if I can figure out where the root is. Biggest survival item to look for if society ever collapsed and the grocery stores closed, according to Green Deane. Why? Because this here my friends... is the Winged Yam. The Purple Potato. It's not only edible (when cooked), but it forms tubers that are 5-30 lbs!! Yes, up to 30 lbs!! According to Green Deane, it's common to find 10 lb ones.

Holy moly a 30lb potato, I'd almost give anything to have some of that and grow it myself! (I can't escape my love of potatoes)