humiliating ways to die in the wilderness

Death by Pinecone was not one I would have immediately thought about...

Death by deer.. very possivle. I know mountain bike racers that have had bones broke by deer charging them in the woods.

Yeah, that's a big pine cone! I think being attacked by a deer in the wild is somewhat unlikely, but I know deer can be dangerous. I knew a girl that worked for a zoo; she was allowed in with most of the animals but not the deer. Apparently when a woman is menstruating the male deer get very aggressive. A ways back I saw a video of some kind of African deer charging a guy that was riding a mountain bike and knocked him clean out!

That's a good read and good writer who's quite entertaining.

I don't know. Dead is dead, you only do it once and everybody has got to do it. Do you really care if you go out in a blaze of glory or with a load in your pants from embarassment?

Don't take it so literal. This article is a humorous way to teach a few survival tips. Because the article was entertaining, I will remember the tips.

Does this author have more articles? I like the author's writing style.

EDIT: Never mind... http://www.cracked.com/members/Sorenb/

Cracked is primarily an online humor site, a spinoff of the magazine. They do, though, often have very well written and researched articles that rival the content of any hard news site.

They also have poorly researched ones. Sometimes the comments section contains critical posts from readers who seem better-informed. I consider them somewhat less trust-worthy than Wikipedia. In other words, at most a starting point and inspiration for further research.

Death by pinecone, although humorous, is a real issue in certain parts of Australia.

Much of the Bunya forests were cleared for timber, but there are still trees around. As well as being a giant cone, they have giant Bunya Nuts (pine nuts) inside, which are delicious and were a staple food for Aboriginal people in the past.

You can eat the fresh nuts raw, or baked in an oven in their shells - somewhat like a chestnut.

Great with butter and salt !

So yo have the dilemma - stay safe, or collect the nuts !