You'd Better Run Into a Wolverine Than This Mushroom

Bright Side

Some mushrooms and plants look harmless but can be really dangerous. For example, the Death Cap mushroom looks like any other mushroom but can be deadly if eaten. The pretty Oleander plant has beautiful flowers, but all parts of it are toxic and can cause serious health problems if ingested. Poison Ivy might look like an ordinary plant, but touching it can give you a nasty, itchy rash. And finally, the cute little berries of the Belladonna plant can be very poisonous if eaten, especially for kids. So, always be careful and avoid eating or touching plants and mushrooms you don't recognize!  Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00There's a new fungus taking over the world.

00:03It settles in humans, is extremely hard to treat, and lasts for weeks on surfaces even

00:08after the patient who had it is long gone.

00:12In 2009, doctors in Japan found this new species of fungus in a patient's ear.

00:17They called it Candida aureus and thought there was no reason to panic about it.

00:22In a couple of years, the same fungus appeared in South Africa, Venezuela, and the Indian

00:27subcontinent.

00:29Each case was a completely different set of genes, and one in three patients who had it

00:33wouldn't survive.

00:35And if you think it will never possibly affect you, there's some bad news.

00:40This sneaky little thing is already in America.

00:44It was first identified in New York in 2016.

00:47The state has become a real hotspot for it ever since, although the fungus was already

00:52found in 29 states.

00:55It's especially dangerous for people who already have some health conditions.

00:59Candida aureus didn't just magically show up out of nowhere and must have long lived

01:04on Earth without us knowing.

01:06Humans and other mammals used to be immune to fungi because of our high body temperatures.

01:11But it looks like these bad boys have adapted to warmer environments, and nothing can stop

01:16them now.

01:18If you love to walk around woods and pick mushrooms, you gotta watch out for this guy,

01:22the death cap.

01:24You can easily mistake these sneaky fungi for edible mushrooms.

01:28To prove that they deserve their name, death caps are responsible for 90% of all mushroom-related

01:33fatalities each year.

01:36Originally from the UK and parts of Ireland, death caps have hitchhiked their way around

01:40the globe over the past century, spreading to Australia and North America.

01:46They've been rapidly taking over California and have even popped up as far north as British

01:51Columbia.

01:53The big mystery is why these mushrooms are spreading so fast, when exactly they arrived,

01:58and how they're impacting local ecosystems.

02:02These little guys are so dangerous because of their unique toxins.

02:05They might help the mushroom fend off predators.

02:09Studying the death caps is tricky because scientists would need to recreate the perfect

02:13growing conditions in a lab to analyze their DNA.

02:18These lethal guys also have some evil cousins, the destroying angels.

02:23These all-white guys look a lot like perfectly edible button mushrooms and meadow mushrooms,

02:29so a lot of people eat them by mistake and find out about it 5 to 24 hours later.

02:35The symptoms are really hard to handle, and just one drop of their ammo toxins can take

02:40your life.

02:41That's why one of the destroying angel species is called the most toxic North American mushroom.

02:48If there was the best edible mushroom doppelganger competition in the woods, the web caps would

02:54likely take the gold.

02:55There are two types of them that look almost identical to each other and to some edible

03:00mushrooms.

03:01These sneaky fungi contain a toxin which first makes you feel like you've caught a cold.

03:07The scary part is that the toxin takes from 2 days to 3 weeks to show symptoms, so doctors

03:13often misdiagnose it.

03:15If not treated in time, the toxin can have some really scary consequences for your health

03:20and could even make you depart this life.

03:23One English author accidentally picked and served these mushrooms to his family.

03:28Four of them ended up in the hospital.

03:30The writer himself, his wife, and his brother-in-law all needed new kidneys after this experience.

03:38There are all sorts of bizarre wild mushrooms, from those that look like volcanoes to rods

03:43and veils and flowers.

03:45If you love stranger things, there is one type just for you.

03:49You can visit the real-life equivalent of the Upside Down in Australia.

03:53People are finding the creepiest sort of fungi in their backyards, and you'd think the residents

03:58of Down Under are used to all sorts of monsters.

04:01And oh, the fungus smells as horrible as it looks.

04:05Local scientists explain these monsters are versions of stinkhorns.

04:10You can also find their varieties in Europe and North America.

04:13They like cooler temperatures and use a woody mulch to grow.

04:17Flies love its spores and help spread the fungus.

04:20Both the anemone stinkhorn and the octopus stinkhorn that were recently found are safe

04:25for humans and pets, but only at the egg stage when the smell is not so potent.

04:30You probably wouldn't eat it later anyway because of the decaying flesh odor.

04:36False morals are some of the most delicious mushrooms with an earthy, nutty flavor.

04:41They have a meaty texture, unlike most mushrooms, and that's probably why chefs and their clients

04:46love them so much.

04:48They only grow in the wild between March and June, which makes them so expensive.

04:53And they have an evil lookalike, the false morals.

04:57They have caused trouble in the US and Europe.

05:00Some folks claim false morals are safe to eat if prepared correctly, but would you really

05:05want to risk it?

05:07If you're a forager, you need to learn to tell the difference between the real and the

05:10fake thing.

05:12True morals have small, pitted hollows in their caps.

05:16They're completely hollow from the tip of the cap to the bottom of the stem.

05:19On false morals, the cap may be ridged, wrinkled, waved, or smooth, but it doesn't have the

05:25hole-like pits of a true moral.

05:27The inside is not hollow, but filled with cottony fibers or chunks of tissue.

05:34Even hemlock is a super-toxic plant from the carrot family.

05:38It's easy to confuse it with wild carrot, wild parsnip, or wild parsley.

05:43And trust me, if you make that mistake, you'll seriously regret it.

05:47Every part of the hemlock plant – seeds, roots, stems, leaves, and fruit – is poisonous

05:53and can take your life if you eat it.

05:55Some scientists even believe that the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was executed using

06:00this plant.

06:02Settlers brought hemlock to the US from Europe as a garden plant, so thanks to them, it now

06:07grows all over the country on fences, roadsides, ditches, meadows, and in other low-lying areas.

06:14If you ever eat this plant by mistake, you need to call 911 or head to the nearest emergency

06:19room immediately because symptoms can appear within 15 minutes.

06:23Unlike poison ivy, poison hemlock usually won't give you any problems if you just

06:27touch it.

06:29But it's still best to play it safe, especially if you have sensitive skin.

06:35White snake root is an innocent-looking plant that took the life of Abraham Lincoln's

06:39mother.

06:40She didn't even have to eat the plant or its white flowers.

06:43Nancy Hanks passed away after drinking the milk of a cow that was gazing at the meadow

06:48with white snake roots.

06:49Yep, the meat and milk from livestock that eat this plant can pass the toxin to humans.

06:55The result will be less than pleasant and more than dangerous, so you'd be better

06:59off not trying it.

07:01Farmers know about this hazard, so they do everything to kick the white snake root from

07:05where their animals wander.

07:08Have you ever seen this sneaky woody vine with slender branches and bright red pods

07:13that look like crab eyes climbing over other plants outside your neighbor's house?

07:19Someone probably brought it from India or Asia as a decoration a long time ago.

07:24It grows really quickly and actually has some practical uses.

07:29Some people use it for healing purposes, others to make necklaces and rosaries and even folk

07:34musical instruments like maracas.

07:38Before you tick it off the bad guys list, if you happen to chew it and swallow some

07:42of its seeds, you'll be a goner.

07:45And because the seeds spread easily with humans or birds, they might end up near someone who

07:50doesn't know about this.

07:51It can also take the life of some animals like cats, dogs, and horses.

07:56They say that even some of the jewelry makers who accidentally pricked their fingers when

08:00working with the seeds passed away.

08:03Touching the plant itself shouldn't do you any harm though!

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