The motor camper who is going it wild and living off the country can find much that is edible if he will keep his eyes open. For example, there are the berries, varying with the season—wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries; even elderberries and pokeberries are not to be despised. The writer is aware that some people think the [[163]]pokeberry poisonous, and in fact it is so characterized in some books. Nevertheless, in some sections of the country the poorer folk use them as filler for pies, and the children eat them raw without any apparent ill effects. However, they are not especially palatable, being rather tasteless.
Wild Rice Is Palatable
In many localities east of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly in the Northwest after September, what is called wild rice will be found growing in shallow lakes or ponds. This is not the white rice of commerce, but its little stick-like seeds are far more nutritious, and more tasteful also, than tame rice. Two young fellows in a canoe or sharpie, one to row, while the other with a stick knocks off the rice into the boat by striking the heads, can gather a bushel of the grain into the bottom of the boat in the course of a forenoon. However, this rice takes about an hour to boil until done, and it is difficult to cook it successfully without a skillet or other metal container. If parboiled for fifteen minutes in the wooden pot already described, and then left to soak overnight, it can be cooked done the next morning in another fifteen minutes.
The wild motor camper, if he looks about him, will find many appetizing herbs which he can boil in his skillet. He can find such herbs as yellow or curly dock (which tastes like spinach), the dandelion, the young pokeberry shoots, which may be [[164]]treated in cooking like asparagus, and numerous other herbs, according to the section through which he journeys.
This wild camper, naturally, will take along gun and fishing tackle. One thing he must not forget, and that will be to familiarize himself with the fishing and game laws of the state through which he tours. In another part of this book general information will be found concerning the fishing and game laws of the various states, the open and closed seasons for the different kinds of fish and game, as also the fees charged for licenses to fish or hunt. Yet, as these laws are constantly changing from time to time, it would be wise for the prospective fisher or hunter to write to the State Fish and Game Commissioner for the latest information.
Muskrats Are Plentiful
We are aware that in many sections of our country the fish are few and the game equally scarce. Yet there is nearly always some kinds of fish that may be found and taken lawfully, as also some kinds of game.
Then, too, there are some kinds of toothsome fish and game that the hunter or fisherman is not likely to consider. In the game line take the humble musquash. This is the only wild animal that is holding its own against man, and is actually increasing in numbers in the settled sections of this country. It is usually called a muskrat, but it is not a rat [[165]]and has no musk. It tastes like squirrel and is equally palatable. It is nocturnal in its habits, and about the only way to take it is to trap it. This last is not especially difficult, but the average wild motor camper probably does not know how. To catch the musquash it is necessary to use a small steel trap which should be placed in the water at the entrance to the burrow of the animal which can be located at the edge or bank of stream, pond, or lake by watching for the little tracks which the animal makes in the mud.