on the branch and the greater the risk of it breaking.
4. The branches get thinner the higher you climb. Usually, a branch will be strong enough to support your weight if it is as thick as your upper arm. Beware of dead branches.
5. Your legs are much stronger than your arms, so use your legs to do most of the climbing work.
6. When descending, support all your weight with one leg and two hands as you locate a lower branch with your other leg. Test the branch by releasing your weight onto it gradually.
CATCH A FISH in a trap
One of the least labor-intensive ways to catch fish in the wild is to build a river bank corral made from sticks or stones. Since the Mesolithic era, hunter-gatherers have built structures in streams and rivers or at the edge of tidal lagoons to trap fish. This method has the advantage that you don’t have to sit around with a rod or spear waiting for your meal to arrive. You can go away and enjoy a leisurely nap before returning to claim your prize.
1. Collect a pile of about sixty sticks, ¾-1½ in (2–4 cm) thick and about 20 in (50 cm) long, which you will use to construct a small, rectangular enclosure at the water’s edge. If there are no sticks, use stones.
2. First make the two long sides of your enclosure with one end facing upstream by driving two parallel lines of sticks/stones into the river bed to form a corridor about 20 in (50 cm) wide and jutting out about 30 in (75 cm) into the water, or until you reach a depth of water that a fish can swim in.
3. Seal off the far end of the enclosure by making a funnel of sticks/rocks pointing into the shore with a 4 in (10 cm) gap—wide enough to allow a fish to swim through.
4. Skewer some bait on a stick and then drive the stick into the river bed so that the bait is exposed underwater inside the enclosure about 8 in (20 cm) from the funnel entrance.
5. Any fish entering the funnel to take the bait will then either swim in a circle or wedge itself nose first into the space on either side of the entrance, where it will stay alive and fresh, ready for you to eat.
LEARN
FINGER WHISTLING
There are certain situations where only a finger whistle will rise to the occasion—enthusiastically supporting your team in a rambunctious sport or attracting the attention of a friend above the din of a buoyant crowd spring easily to mind. Some people are natural whistlers who seem to effortlessly summon ear-piercing calls to action, but the rest of us mere mortals need a little instruction.
The basic principle is to use your fingers to create a "whistle" shape through which you blow to magnify the sound.
The combination of fingers depends on the size of your mouth and fingers. The one-handed approach uses the thumb and any one of your other fingers (index and middle are the most popular). The two-hander usually uses the index and middle fingers of both hands.
1. Wet and tuck back your top and bottom lips to cover your teeth (as if you were pretending to be a toothless old crone).
2. Position each finger halfway between the corner of your mouth and the center of your lips and insert up to the first knuckle.
3. Touch the fingertips together and angle them in toward the center of your tongue to create a horizontal "A" shape.
4. Draw back your tongue so that the tip is almost touching the floor of your mouth a little way behind your lower teeth. (This is important as it means your tongue is broadened to cover more of your lower back teeth.) Your fingers keep your tongue pushed back, and they also keep your lips tucked back over your teeth.
5. Take a deep breath and blow, forcing the air over your fingers and lower lip.
Fortunately, anyone can learn to whistle but great power requires the utmost discretion. For example, your new skill will impress nobody in the Royal Box at Wimbledon nor will it attract the attention of a waiter in an exclusive restaurant.
MAKE NATURAL FIBER CORD
There are numerous plants whose leaves and/or stems are suitable for making strong natural cordage, from dogbane and milkweed to stinging nettles and Douglas Iris.
You can also use the fibrous inner bark from some trees (e.g., the dead branches of cedar or white basswood). Here is a simple method using stinging nettles.
Nettles have been used for cordage for thousands of years as they have very long fibers, but you do need to gather a lot of them. The best nettles for cordage are the purple-stemmed red nettles that have stronger fibers than the green-stemmed variety.
1. First cut about forty nettles, with stems about 3 ft (90 cm) long.
2. Strip the leaves from the stems. You can use your bare hands, by gripping each leaf firmly where it meets the stem and then snapping it off. But it is quicker to use gloves, because this allows you to run your index finger and thumb along the stem and strip the leaves in just a few seconds.
3. Flatten the stripped stem by squashing it between your finger and thumb, then split open to reveal the green pith.
4. Holding the stem in the middle, pith side up, snap the stem so the pith breaks. Then trap the intact purple outer stem between index finger and thumb and pull the purple stem down so that it separates from the pith. Repeat with the other half, until you are left with two purple fibers.
5. You can use them immediately but your cord will be much stronger if you dry the fibers before rolling into cordage.
6. To make the cord, twist a couple of fibers together and roll them on your thigh with your palm until they are even and round.
7. Bend this double fiber in two and hold the middle with your left hand.
8. Roll the two parallel strands forward on your thigh at the same time, then at the end of the roll trap them with your palm and release your left hand and you’ll see the twist transfer into the loop that you have just released.
9. Give it a couple of counterclockwise twists with your left hand to help it tighten and you will have a couple of inches of cord.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 with the next few inches of fiber to gain another couple of inches of cord.
11. When you are close to running out of fiber on the right hand side, simply add another fiber as you perform the rolling, so that your cord continues to grow without interruption.
AGE A TREE WITHOUT CUTTING IT DOWN
