Live Foods from the Wild Part III

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Live Foods from the WildPart III How to
Collect Wild Foods

• A presentation for
• The Angelfish Society
• February 20, 2011
• by Tamar Stephens

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About this presentation

• This is Part III in a series of presentations on
  live foods from the wild.
• Previous presentations in this series
• Part I Nutritional value of wild foods. (Sept.
  19, 2010)
• Part II Where to find wild foods. (Oct. 17, 2010)
• (Previous presentations can be found at
  http//www.theangelfishsociety.org/PresentationsTA
  SNew.html)
• The rest of this series will cover
• Part IV Types of wild foods
• Part V How to culture wild foods

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In this presentation

• Various equipment that can be used for collecting
  wild foods
• Transporting collected organisms home alive
• Some health and safety precautions

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Recap of where to find wild foods

• Recall from Part II of this series that most
  wild foods are found in aquatic habitats,
  primarily calm water bodies, including
• Ponds
• Puddles
• Lakes
• Sloughs
• Rivers and streams in calmer areas along
  vegetated banks

Noyes Slough, Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo courtesy
of the U.S. Geological Survey)
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Types of equipment
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Containers

• You will need wide mouth jars or other types of
  containers to hold live food that you harvest
  from the wild.
• You can save up used jars, use wide mouth canning
  jars, round or rectangular glass or plastic
  containers, or just about any type of container
  with a lid.
• Glass containers are easiest to clean and
  sanitize, but take care if you use glass
  containers because they can break if dropped.

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Brushes

• Small, soft artist or paint brushes can be used
  to collect small organisms, such as worms or
  masses of protozoa from the undersides of leaves
  and rocks.
• Gently wipe the area to gather organisms, then
  dip the brush in a jar of water and swirl gently
  to shake them loose into the water.

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Eyedroppers, basters, etc.

• Various sizes of droppers can be used for many
  purposes
• collecting organisms,
• sorting them when you get home,
• transferring them to other containers, and
• for feeding fish.

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Nets and sieves

• Various nets and sieves can be used for
  collecting, as well as transferring to other
  containers when you return home.
• You can buy nets with various mesh sizes.
• You can also make your own by sewing cheesecloth
  or nylon hosiery around a loop of wire hangar.
• For collecting it is best to make the net deep,
  and to make it balloon out to allow plenty of
  surface area to allow water to flow through.
• A long enough net can be folded as it is removed
  from the water to keep captured critters from
  escaping.

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Traps

• Various types of traps can be devised. A simple
  type of trap is to position a net in the water,
  staked in place so the current flows through it.
  When you disturb vegetation or rocks just
  upstream, the organisms are swept by the current
  into the trap.

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Protective clothing

• You need to protect yourself while you are doing
  your collecting.
• Wear a hat or cap for protection from the sun
• Wear rubber boots if you expect to be wading in
  shallow water
• Rubber gloves can help protect your hands from a
  variety of possible problems, including scrapes
  on rough rocks, insect bites, leeches, etc.
• Mosquito repellant. If you are going to be
  collecting in a mosquito-ridden area, put on your
  mosquito repellant before you leave home. Take
  care not to introduce it into your collection
  water.

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Transporting collected organisms home alive
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Ice chest or tote

• If you have filled a variety of containers on
  your collecting trip, you will need something to
  carry them in.
• As you collect, you want to make sure you dont
  leave your containers in the direct sunlight.
• A plastic tote or an ice chest can be used to
  hold your collection jars and to keep them out of
  the direct sunlight.
• Bring something to wrap the containers in or to
  pad the spaces between them so they dont get
  damaged. Use bubble wrap, crumpled newspaper,
  clean rags, etc.

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Avoid overcrowding

• Dont try to put too many organisms in a single
  jar. Overcrowding will lead to using up the
  dissolved oxygen very quickly.

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Keep it short

• Try to work quickly and efficiently so you can
  get the organisms home as soon as possible after
  collecting them.

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Keep it cool

• Overheating will result in depletion of oxygen
  and death of collected organisms.
• You can keep them cool and shaded in the ice
  chest.
• You can also bring ice or blue ice along in the
  ice chest to cool your collected items. This
  will help preserve dissolved oxygen, will lower
  the metabolic rates of the collected organisms
  and make it more likely that you will get them
  home alive.

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A few health precautions
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Giardia lamblia

• Giardiasis is an infection of the small intestine
  caused by a microscopic organism (protozoa),
  Giardia lamblia.
• Be aware that many streams and ponds are now
  infected with Giardia, so you want to make sure
  you dont drink the water. Wash your hands well
  before you handle food or touch your face.
• You will also want to take care with your
  collected items to avoid potential contamination
  of your aquariums.
• Other microorganisms may be present in the water
  that can harm your health, such as E. coli.

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Pollution

• Be aware that many streams and ponds near urban
  areas may have pollutants that could harm your
  fish.
• Irresponsible people dump assorted trash and
  other wastes into water bodies, including used
  oil, disposable diapers, old car batteries, and
  other items that may pollute the water.
• If you have any doubts about a possible
  collection area, then dont risk yourself or your
  fish.

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Use good safety precautions

• Be careful about wading into a stream or pond.
  People may have disposed of sharp pieces of
  metal, broken glass, or other items that can
  injure you.
• Watch out for algae-covered slippery rocks to
  avoid slipping and falling.
• Depending on where you go, you may need to watch
  out for wildlife, such as moose protecting their
  young, or bears.

Photo from http//redriverpak.wordpress.com/2010/0
5/07/the-prairie-dog-incident-of-2006/
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Final thoughts

• I hope you enjoyed this presentation, and that it
  gave you some ideas for how to prepare for a trip
  to collect wild foods.
• The next presentation in this series will talk
  about how to identify different organisms that
  you find during your collection trips.

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The End

• Now back to the chat room for discussion!