# You're stupid, now you're dead. (RO, I guess) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081 "2008-09-18T01:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/41 "2008-09-19T14:29:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It looks as though they might be from Asia or thereabouts, and they may have mistaken the deathcaps for edible straw mushrooms. In which case, I retract my accusation of stupidity. California has had problems with SE Asian immigrants who mistake a poisonous North American mushroom for one that is edible and found in Asia. Apparently the similarities are quite striking and even experts can have trouble distinguishing the two without careful examination. > [@](#): > > Doesn’t look good for the niece though - critical condition with liver damage Typically, it takes a liver transplant to survive this sort of poisoning long term, although there are rare exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/42 "2008-09-19T14:49:26Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I was recently surpised to discover that Amanita muscaria wasn’t actually all that deadly - I’d been told all my life that it was one of the worst. > > I still wouldn’t try taking it for fun, though. People did (and presumably still do) - that species has it’s reputation mainly from being so distinctive rather than being particularly dangerous. [QUOTE=Una Persson] “the economy” and how “pensions can’t cover luxuries like good mushrooms.” [/QUOTE] Oh FFS. :smack: I lived in Devon when I was a kid. Not only do they have libraries where you can get mushroom books for free, they have mad old codgers who have spent their entire retirement memorising the details of every fungi (and recipe using them) in the county and who are desperate for a receptive audience to babble at. Relatives - random annoying people you’d never associate with if the weren’t related to you. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/43 "2008-09-19T15:15:58Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > People did (and presumably still do) - that species has it’s reputation mainly from being so distinctive rather than being particularly dangerous. Sure they did - Siberian shamans and the like; but it was (and is) still risky business. The “risk” isn’t death per se, but of potentially experiencing a wide range of very unpleasant symptoms: > [@](#): > > Fly agarics are known for the unpredictability of their effects. Depending on habitat and the amount ingested per body weight, effects can range from nausea and twitching to drowsiness, cholinergic effects (low blood pressure, sweating and salivation), auditory and visual distortions, mood changes, euphoria, relaxation, and loss of equilibrium. Retrograde amnesia frequently results following recovery.[52] [69] [65] > > In cases of serious poisoning it causes a delirium, characterized by bouts of marked agitation with confusion, hallucinations, and irritability followed by periods of central nervous system depression. Seizures and coma may also occur in severe poisonings.[65] Effects typically appear after around 30 to 90 minutes and peak within three hours, but certain effects can last for a number of days. [46][70] In the majority of cases recovery is complete within 12 hours. The effect is highly variable and individuals can react quite differently to the similar doses.[52][46] [71] Some cases of intoxication have exhibited headaches up to ten hours afterwards. > **[Amanita muscaria | Toxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria#Toxicity)** > > A. muscaria poisoning has occurred in young children and in people who ingested the mushrooms for a hallucinogenic experience, or who confused it with an edible species. > A. muscaria contains several biologically active agents, at least one of which, muscimol, is known to be psychoactive. Ibotenic acid, a neurotoxin, serves as a prodrug to muscimol, with a small amount likely converting to muscimol after ingestion. An active dose in adults is approximately 6 mg muscimol or 30 to 60 mg ibotenic ac... Plenty of more - pleasing - mushroom species to ingest, without risking nausea, salivation, twitching, seizures, comas, 10 hour headaches and the like. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/44 "2008-09-19T15:22:27Z")
I Blame the Mario Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/45 "2008-09-19T15:40:14Z")
Was the chick who died cute? Then it was Deathcap for Cutie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/46 "2008-09-19T18:45:06Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > \ I won’t answer my door if I’m not expecting company. That being said I think I’d pay attention if loud knocking and shouting were happening outside my house \ > > Last week my roomate made some awesome pasta with tomatoes we’d grown and other garden grown veggies. Afterword I remarked on the mushrooms and she told me they were wild. :eek: WTF? You gotta tell me these things so I can make informed decisions. Well, I’m here typing today so I guess it’s ok. But I was still bothered that she didn’t tell me ahead of time they were wild mushrooms. And that boys and girls is why I don’t eat any mushrooms at all ever. If someone did that to me by grinding up the mushrooms and then saying: la de da, you just ate ground up wild mushrooms, the police would find a chef’s knife stuck in their throat. I think the jury would acquit. If I survived. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/47 "2008-09-19T18:50:53Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Was the chick who died cute? > > Then it was Deathcap for Cutie. This is the sound…this is the sound of my stomach settling. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/48 "2008-09-19T18:52:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > California has had problems with SE Asian immigrants who mistake a poisonous North American mushroom for one that is edible and found in Asia. Apparently the similarities are quite striking and even experts can have trouble distinguishing the two without careful examination. > Typically, it takes a liver transplant to survive this sort of poisoning long term, although there are rare exceptions. I’ll second Broomstick on hearing these news reports, but I can’t vouch for the SE Asian, just some visiting granny from the old country shoving mushrooms down the grandkids’ throats over Mom’s protestations. Talk about mother in law problems. Eating wild mushrooms anyone else picks is just stupid. Eating wild mushrooms without having read and understood local books with detailed descriptions, pictures and illustrations, even if you did pick them, is stupid. Of course, please bear in mind that I am biased and have a deep pathological fear of mushrooms and don’t eat them. The only single time I ever did was when I wasn’t sure what the topping was and asked later after eating. My suspicion of what they were as I was eating them made me sweaty and pale. A chef friend sent out a complimentary dish at a fancy restaurant. I didn’t care for the mushrooms, but loved the scallops they were on. I asked him later what they were and he said wild mushrooms. Gaaaaaa!!! At least I didn’t stick his knife in his throat. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/49 "2008-09-19T19:21:17Z")
I love mushrooms (although I didn’t as a kid) but with more and more commercially grown varieties available I just don’t see eating wild ones as a justifiable risk. I know I don’t have the knowledge base to do so safely. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/50 "2008-09-19T19:25:19Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > And that boys and girls is why I don’t eat any mushrooms at all ever. If someone did that to me by grinding up the mushrooms and then saying: la de da, you just ate ground up wild mushrooms, the police would find a chef’s knife stuck in their throat. I think the jury would acquit. If I survived. Well… I think murder is a little excessive but I _ **was** _ upset. Turns out she is as paranoid about wild mushrooms as I am but has a friend who has been picking wild mushrooms their whole life and is quite knoweledgeable of the local varieties. After I learned this I calmed down. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/51 "2008-09-19T20:14:24Z")
Thing is, there are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of berry, leaf, tuber etc. Why do mushrooms get all the fear? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/52 "2008-09-19T20:31:16Z")
Mushrooms do tend to be a higher on the toxic scales. Most stuff, even if you ate a load of poisonous tubers or berries, would be really bad but not fatal with decent medical attention. Mushrooms are frequently more “inevitable” than that. Plus, you have to go to a lot less trouble than with tubers or leaves, which are not right on most people’s diets. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/53 "2008-09-19T23:04:16Z")
I’m not so sure about that. Certainly there are a few horribly poisonous fungi, but I think there are a fair few examples of the other things that will kill you good and dead after a fairly small dose. I go out foraging quite frequently and pick all sorts of stuff - but only when I’m picking mushrooms do I get people tutting and telling me to be careful, because it’s _so dangerous_. I guess maybe people just haven’t heard about all the other opportunities for misadventure. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/54 "2008-09-20T08:30:50Z")
**Mangetout** ’s comments have reminded me of the excellent Dorothy L. Sayers novel, _The Documents in the Case_, in which wild mushroom picking plays an important role. Well worth the read. (Note: it’s Sayers’ only non-Wimsey novel, so don’t pick it up expecting to see Lord Peter.) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/55 "2008-09-20T11:01:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Thing is, there are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of berry, leaf, tuber etc. Why do mushrooms get all the fear? In the case of Monkshood (aka Aconite) you don’t even have to swallow it, the toxin is readily absorbed through the skin the sap is one easy way to get it - and this is a fairly common household plant - the tubers can be mistaken for Horse Radish. There’s a whole range of such plants, from Hemlock through to Yew ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/56 "2008-09-20T17:33:55Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > In the case of Monkshood (aka Aconite) you don’t even have to swallow it, the toxin is readily absorbed through the skin the sap is one easy way to get it - and this is a fairly common household plant - the tubers can be mistaken for Horse Radish. > > There’s a whole range of such plants, from Hemlock through to Yew I would guarantee that almost everyone on the Dope has toxic plants in their house and/or garden - they’re very common. Almost no one ever gets poisoned by them (and most aren’t toxic enough to kill you). Maybe the mushrooms get all the press because people go out of their way to pick and eat them, which you don’t really do so much with your azaleas or irises. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/57 "2008-09-20T20:41:01Z")
Yeah, I suppose it’s because mushrooms are a prime ingredient - prized on a level to rival meat. They’re a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/58 "2008-09-20T21:03:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Thing is, there are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of berry, leaf, tuber etc. Why do mushrooms get all the fear? I think one of the reasons is that with berries, leaves, and tubers, the poisoning is upfront and obvious - symptoms within an hour or two. So, connecting your illness back to what you just ate is pretty easy. Treatment at that point is induced vomiting or something to clear out your GI tract from the other end so the poison can’t be absorbed. Once you’re over it, you’re good to go. With the mushrooms they’re talking about, the symptoms don’t show up until 24 hours after ingestion. By then, digestion has taken place. It’s over. The stuff’s in your system, and the only thing the doctors can do is give supportive treatment. If you survive, you’ve probably got permanent liver damage and may even need a liver transplant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/59 "2008-09-20T21:13:04Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Except death. No, not even death. The Stupid jumps ship and finds another host. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081/60 "2008-09-21T02:12:44Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > \ I won’t answer my door if I’m not expecting company. That being said I think I’d pay attention if loud knocking and shouting were happening outside my house \ I’d certainly hope you’d pay attention if they’re shouting there’s smoke! > [@](#): > > Last week my roomate made some awesome pasta with tomatoes we’d grown and other garden grown veggies. Afterword I remarked on the mushrooms and she told me they were wild. :eek: WTF? You gotta tell me these things so I can make informed decisions. Well, I’m here typing today so I guess it’s ok. But I was still bothered that she didn’t tell me ahead of time they were wild mushrooms. About 20 years ago, I roomed with a dude who was a certified expert on mushrooms. He did volunteer work at the local hospital to examine mushrooms that mushroom hunters brought in so they wouldn’t eat anything poisonous. Whenever he cooked stuff at home with mushrooms, he’d tell the other roomie and me that not only were they wild, but he picked them personally. I always felt safe when he said that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-stupid-now-youre-dead-ro-i-guess/464081.md?page=2)