Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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fionaj
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Mushrooms in sheep fieldsHi
I have lots of lovely mushrooms rosa etc growing in a field grazed by sheep by monthly. An experienced mushroom picker has warned of the dangers of eating mushrooms from fields frequented by sheep as the mushrooms can carry the sheep lungworm eggs/larva.
I dose the sheep regularly with anti-lungworm treatment.
Does anyone know if it is feasable for mushrooms to carry sheep lungworm? As I am very reluctant to eat them until I verify the information.
Fiona
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cab
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Very good question. And I haven't got an answer. I'd be tempted to eat them, after cooking to kill off the beasty.
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Jb
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Re: Mushrooms in sheep fields | fionaj wrote: | | An experienced mushroom picker has warned of the dangers of eating mushrooms from fields frequented by sheep as the mushrooms can carry the sheep lungworm eggs/larva. |
Surely then the sheep would also carry the "sheep lungworm eggs/larva" and yet you eat the sheep. I suppose that lamb may be cooked longer or hotter and so may be more likely to kiill the eggs or larva or am I missing something there?
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wildfoodie
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well I started a search on line for the answer to this intriguing question, but got bored.... lots of technical info out there, not much for the science-phobe. what I did pick up tho was the eggs are transmitted in faeces, so perhaps best practice is to steer clear of any patches that have sheep dung nearby. 
the google link to defra from a 'sheep lungworm' search query gives a sentence saying this disease hasn't been found in UK, but the full entry from the defra page does not say this. I have eaten several years worth of st Georges from a field which has sheep in it, and I'm still standing! ( hmm, how long would the larvae incubate before producing symptoms??  )
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vipper
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Found this, actually about cow lungworm but the principle is probably the same:
| Quote: | | They bide their time inside the pat of manure until morning light strikes them. Light is their signal to climb up through the manure until they reach the surface, where they begin to hunt around for a species of fungus that also parasitizes cows, a species that responds to light by growing little spring-loaded packages of spores. When one of the lungworms touches a spore package, it latches on and climbs up to the top. Soon the fungus catapults itself six feet into the air, soaring away from the manure like a puddle jumper, with the lungworm going along for the ride. If the lungworm lands on a patch of grass (and not on another cowpat), its odds of being eaten by a cow are much improved. |
Although I am with Cab, I would cook them well and eat them. We eat parasites all the time, especially if foraging.
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Tavascarow
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Maybe the | Quote: | | experienced mushroom picker |
was just trying to put you off so he could nab them. I'm with Cab if you cook them you should be fine. Rather eat them than the chemical laden supermarket variety.
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cab
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| vipper wrote: | Found this, actually about cow lungworm but the principle is probably the same:
| Quote: | | They bide their time inside the pat of manure until morning light strikes them. Light is their signal to climb up through the manure until they reach the surface, where they begin to hunt around for a species of fungus that also parasitizes cows, a species that responds to light by growing little spring-loaded packages of spores. |
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Sounds very like Pilobolus fungus. Great stuff is that. Can shoot its spores a good six feet up.
Now, the whole point of doing this (I urge anyone else who thinks that this is cool to look it up, a quick google for pilobolus reveals all sorts of stuff) is to spread the spores a distance from the parent, somewhere that they can be eaten by another animal. So if the shrooms are in a field that has Pilobolus and infected animals then yes, you could be eating shrooms with lungworm larvae on 'em.
I'm amazed never to have come across these lungworms in connection with Pilobolus before. Never heard of that. I'm amazed. You learn something new every day, eh?
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When one of the lungworms touches a spore package, it latches on and climbs up to the top. Soon the fungus catapults itself six feet into the air, soaring away from the manure like a puddle jumper, with the lungworm going along for the ride. If the lungworm lands on a patch of grass (and not on another cowpat), its odds of being eaten by a cow are much improved. |
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I have to say, I think thats simply excellent  I can't get over how cool that is, what a fantastic parasite
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Although I am with Cab, I would cook them well and eat them. We eat parasites all the time, especially if foraging. |
Not so very good at parasites myself, but I'll look 'em up in my invertebrate book tomorrow, see if I can see for sure whether eating them is likely to kill them.
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fionaj
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Thanks a lot for the replies
I have eaten the said mushrooms and they were devine!! So watch this space for 'Human gets Sheep lung worm'!! It was quite a good puzzler though huh?
I have been foraging in the nearby forests and found an abundance of fantastic shrooms, must be all the rain we've had, so mushroom stroganoff is certainly on the menu for at least the next few weeks.
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Tavascarow
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Well the only "parasite" I have come across is my neighbours dappled grey who decided to give me a friendly nudge in the rear with his bonse as I was stooping to pick mushrooms in "his" field.
Love his sense of humour. 
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