Survival in the Late Fall Temperate Deciduous Forest:

To help me survive in a dynamic and colorful autumn forest for three months, I had the following things: Some fairly thin underwear with long sleeves and legs; a pair of good boots that barely reached my ankles; three square meters of good strong canvas; fifteen meters of fish line of forty-pound monofilament; fifteen meters of snare wire made of stainless steel in a diameter of one millimeter; five large safety pins with a length of fifteen centimeters; a large hunting knife with ten centimeters of blade; and, fortunately, an unlimited supply of matches.

As soon as I was stranded, I started looking for a campsite. I found a small suitable clearing for my purpose next to a group of Walnut and Yellowwood trees. For the meantime I had acorns, beechnuts, berries, and chestnuts to feed upon. After a small meal of acorns and berries was consumed, I propped up my canvas with sticks and used rocks as weights to construct my sleeping facility.

First thing the next morning, I started making a primitive bow and arrow. I whittled a piece of wood for the fish line which was attached to it. Next, I whittled some strips of wood into sharp arrows. It did not release too well, but if I got close enough to my prey, my bow and arrow worked fine. Another hunting weapon that I made was a snare. I attached the stainless steel wire in a loop onto a stick. I was never able to catch anything with the snare after several attempts.

After a few days of profitless hunting, I spotted a hedgehog. This was a prickily little animal that weighed about ten pounds. I knew the bow and arrow would be useless against it. So I charged at it with my snare. When I did this , it just rolled up in a ball with only it's sharp spines showing. To combat it, I picked up a large rock and thrust it down upon the hedgehog's skull. I repeated this to make sure he was dead.

When I returned to my campsite, I skinned, and prepared the animal to be cooked. I dug a hole in soft dirt with a wooden shovel that I had carved. The hole was three times the size of the meat and the sides were sloped a bit. I lined the sides and bottom of the pit with rocks that had flat bottoms so they would not roll down the sides of the small embankment. I then built a brisk fire in it and let it burn until the pit was filled with hot coals. I scooped the coals out and poured in approximately a quart of water over the sizzling hot stones. Then I placed a thick layer of broad-leafed leaves over the stones, and placed the meat, wrapped in a small piece ofmy canvas, in the hole. Over the meat I placed the hot coals then dirt to seal in the heat and steam. After a short time passed by which I thought to be three hours, I removed the meat and ate part of it, saving some for later. Every once in a while I managed to catch a crayfish, by scooping them out of the water with a piece of my canvas. Mercifully, this way I had cooked fish sometimes too.

I was careful to pick a spot at least one hundred feet slightly downhill from my campsite and remote from my source of drinking water for my latrine.

I spent a lot of my spare time whittling. Slowly, I made wooden spoons and other eating utensils with the knife to make my life a bit more comfortable. I even managed to carve out a small cup for drinking. To protect my knife from rust, I rubbed animal fat on it.

One drink that I was able to make was coffee, but instead of coffee beans I used acorns I had found the day before above a nearby ridge. I brewed the beverage by removing the meat from the acorn and baking it in a pit fire. I pulverized the parched acorns between stones after they were done being baked. Then I placed some of the grounds in my wooden cup and added cold water. I had to add cold water because I had no way of boiling it at the time. I did lightly warm the quenching drink by placing it near a fire, but I made sure the cup did not burn. This nutty drink supplemented my other foods nicely. 

When I knew my rescuers were near, I made a large smoke fire so that the smoke would guide them to my campsite. Not long after it was built, the smoke fire worked.

Comparison:

In the rain forest, I had very little to do and my food varied little. Also, I had problems building fires because of the dampness and longevity of the rain. Although there were many disadvantages in the rain forest, the termite mound I found served very well as a home.

In the deciduous forest I had pastimes to keep myself busy like whittling spoons, figures, and so on. Also, I had cooked meat, and even a cooked fish once in a while. I did not only drink water because I made a warm acorn drink once a day. Although there were many advantages in the deciduous over the rain forest, my sleeping place could have been improved greatly, since I got soaked several times when sudden downpours came.

Whichever biome I was in, I had to remember these things: Keep my head, save my energy, think things out and size up my situation, plan a sensible course of action, and most of all, cheerfulness and a determination to live!