Sitting on the beach on a warm afternoon, you'd be hardpressed to imagine that Southwest Florida could ever be a difficult or even dangerous place to live. But transport yourself a few miles inland, into the dense wilderness just outside our urban home, and survival becomes much more iffy.

It's this tough environment that convinced skilled tracker and outdoorsman Tom Brown, Jr. to bring his wilderness survival school to Lee County.

While surviving in the wilderness is complicated, Brown offers these basic skills if you find yourself stranded in the wilds of Southwest Florida.

BASIC SURVIVAL PRIORITIES

• If you are ever lost in the wilderness, Tom Brown says the decisions you make in the first few hours can dictate whether you will survive. Here are his priorities, in order:

1) Find Shelter — Most people concentrate on finding food. Brown says this is a mistake, pointing out that many people could survive days with just the fat on their bodies. Shelter is far more important because if you get too cold or too wet, hypothermia and other maladies can set in and incapacitate or kill you.

2) Find Water — While the body can survive without food for extended periods, it does need water. That's why Brown says your second priority should be to find a source of fresh water. If a river or spring is not available, set traps to catch rainwater, gather morning dew or build a solar still that collects ground moisture as it evaporates.

3) Find Fire — Fire can help keep you warm, purify water and prepare food. It's critical for survival in the wilderness. There are several techniques to create fire, including making a bow drill, a mouth drill or using the old flint-on-steel technique seen in so many Western movies. While they may seem impossible, these methods are quite serviceable with practice.

4) Find Food — Only after the first three priorities are well in hand should a lost soul focus on food. The easiest source of sustenance in the wild are the many edible plants that grow throughout Southwest Florida. Finding eggs or catching insects is slightly more complicated. The most difficult is the actual trapping of birds and animals. Nonetheless, for trained trackers, this provides the best source of food.

TOM BROWN'S BOOK

Tom Brown, Jr. is the author of more than a dozen books on his career and tracking or survival techniques. One of his best-sellers is “Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival,” which was the source of much of the information in this report.

If you would like to “track” down a copy of Brown’s book, here’s the information:

• Title: “Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival” by Tom Brown, Jr. and Brandt Morgan

• Price: $14 (Berkley Books)

• ISBN: 0-425-10572-5

• Available: Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, amazon.com

BUILDING A SHELTER

The debris hut is an ingenious shelter created not as a spacious living environment, but simply a “nest” to protect you from the elements and keep you alive.

To build a debris hut, you must find a sturdy Y-shaped branch or log and drive it upright into the ground. Then, find a long, straight branch — one that is only slightly longer than you are tall. This is called a “ridgepole.” Place the ridgepole in the crook of the “Y.” It now will form an angled spine rising from the ground. Lay branches along either side of the spine down to the ground, forming a thin wall. Now begin heaping grasses, leaves and palm fronds on top of the structure. Continue piling them on, adding dirt, sod and anything else you can find. The thickness of these debris “walls” should be at least as long as your arm — or thicker. The thicker the covering, the more impervious it will be for keeping rain out and your body heat in. When you’re ready to bed down, pull a pile of leaves and branches into the opening to close it off.

SOME EDIBLE PLANTS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Southwest Florida is ripe with edible plants that can be turned into all types of tasty treats and even medicines. Here are a few of them, but before you go and whip up a Survival Salad, it’s important that you do more research so you can correctly identify edible plants and prepare them safely.

View the following plants here:
http://www.news-press.com/multimedia/galleries/swflaplants/galleryframe.html

• Cattails — The cattail has so many edible parts, it’s like a wilderness supermarket. In early spring, the young shoots and stalks can be peeled and eaten raw or boiled. In late spring, the green flower heads can be husked and boiled. In early summer, the pollen heads can be eaten raw, or dried into flour. The rootstocks are an excellent source of starch. They can be crushed, dissolved in cold water, and made into flour after draining and drying. MEDICINE: Ripe cattail flowers can be mashed and used as a salve for cuts and burns.

• Elderberries — The ripe purple or black berries can be eaten after they are dried or boiled to remove tartness. Fresh or dried flowers can be simmered as a tea. Fresh flowers can be dipped in batter and fried. WARNING: Leaves and roots are poisonous. Red and white berries are toxic. Unripe fruits can cause diarrhea or vomiting.

• Goldenrod — Young leaves near flowers can be boiled and eaten as a potherb. Small leaves and flowers can be dried or used fresh to make anise-flavored tea. Seeds can be crushed and added to stews for thickening.

• Groundnut — Tubers can be peeled and eaten raw, dried and ground into flour, or prepared and eaten like potatoes. Seeks can be cooked like peas.

• Oak Trees — Even when green, all acorns are edible and very nutritious if properly prepared. A handful of these tasty nuts has as much nutritional value as a pound of hamburger. Acorns from the white oak and the pin oak can be eaten raw. All others either have to be leached in running water for several hours or boiled in several changes of water to get rid of the harsh, bitter taste. MEDICINE: Save the left over boiled water, since it makes a powerful antiseptic for skin diseases and cuts.

• Plantain — Young leaves can be boiled and eaten as a potherb. Seeds can be dried and ground into flour or dried, boiled, and served as a hot cereal. MEDICINE: Crushed leaves are a powerful remedy for minor wounds, stings, bruises, and sprains. Seeds are high in the B vitamins. Take one or two pods daily as an insect repellent.

• Saw Palmetto — The “hearts” at bases of leaf stalks can be cut out and eaten raw. The bases of terminal buds can be boiled and eaten like vegetables.

• Spicebush — Young leaves, twigs and bark can be steeped in hot water to make a tea that is especially healthful in winter. Berries can be dried and powdered as an excellent general seasoning. WARNING: Do not eat berries whole. Use only as a seasoning.

• Wild Grapes — Leaves can be eaten as a cooked green after boiling 10 to 15 minutes. Fruits can be eaten fresh or mixed with water as a cold drink. In springtime, the live vines can be cut and drained to yield a refreshing watery sap. (The fruit of sea grapes plants, which are common in Southwest Florida, are also edible.) WARNING: Grape roots are poisonous. Do not mistake wild grapes for poisonous species such as Canada moonseed or common nightshade.

• Yuccas — Stems can be sliced, peeled, and boiled as a vegetable. Flower petals can be eaten raw. Fruits are good raw, roasted, or baked (remove rind before eating). Seeds can be ground and boiled into cereal.

TRACKS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ANIMALS

Tracking animals is an art as much as it is a science. It takes skill and practice. If you want to track Southwest Florida critters for fun or for potential food, here are some key tracks to watch for.