Reply #6: our wild plants and our wild shrubs are vanishing tis true

[pitohui]

in some areas of the usa virtually every native small plant and shrub is on the brink of extinction because of the population explosion of white-tailed deer

one of the best things you can do to help save our native wild plants and shrubs is to hunt or to support hunting, of course, not too practical in the many suburban neighborhoods where you can't safely hunt yet deer are also taking over and eating your damn garden as well as any natives growing there, in that case, good fences and a good trusted supplier of native plants to re-stock your yard is the way to go

sometimes you are allowed to take plants from areas about to be clear-cut and developed anyway, so that's worth keeping an eye out for

most plants do not provide sufficient calories for humans in a survival situation, it is well to learn about your legal options for hunting, trapping, etc. and getting some experience there

i don't know how neurotic we're supposed to be abt self-sufficiency, there will never be self-sufficient bypass surgery, but if we really think there will be no refrigeration, etc, people need to be sure of having sufficient salt on hand to be able preserve meat for storage

some skills are not of value except as hobbies, for instance, flint-knapping, in the event of the total collapse of civilization, there will be lots of actual knives laying about, no reason to put an eye out learning how to (badly) knapp flint, i used to work w. flint a little but this is strictly fun historical stuff not something that you'll want to devote calories to doing during an emergency

one of my friends pointed out that his most valuable skill in a true collapse of society was his experience in methamphetamine lab, don't laugh, drugs to keep you awake when needed will be highly prized when coffee shipment is no more and society is in true collapse