Foraging & Sign. Things to look for.

I was out in the forest this morning, though it was overcast and threatening rain. Here are some images of what I found along the way. I went South on high ground, then down into Butterfly Valley and back North toward home.

Plenty of fallen timber to use as a base for a shelter. Also in wet weather you can cut away the wet outer wood to get at the drier wood inside for fire wood. A tomahawk is a handy tool for this sort of work.

This disused termite mound would make a good shelter once burnt out. A hole top and bottom have already been made, perhaps by an echidna. A mound of this size will burn internally for 3-4 days, in which time you can make a bed close to the lower hole, which you can enlarge, and gain the warmth from the fire within. Once burnt out you can cover the top hole with a piece of bark and move in.

Sign of humans.

Not far away on this rock plateau, I found a rock fire place and a supply of wood.

Another old fire place as I came down into Butterfly Valley, this one much older.

The bark from the Manna Gum makes excellent kindling.

An excellent tree to build a lean-to against.

Lietiporus Portentosus, a bracket fungus. One of the best plants to use as tinder. At this time of year, winter, they tend to soak up any rain water or moisture from snow, and become so heavy that they fall from the tree. This one appeared to have fallen from a large Manna Gum. One of this size would last you for a month or more.