Some plants, such as the pitcher plant in northern Ontario, act as
natural receptacles, catching water in their cupshaped cavities. But again,
you must have had onsite instruction in plant identification to be sure you
are collecting water from nonpoisonous plants.
The milk from unripe (green) coconuts will also provide your body
with muchneeded liquid, though it’s not water. While you may survive for
some time on milk from mature coconuts, note that these contain an oil
that acts as a laxative. However, I’ve survived primarily on coconut water
mixed with rainwater for a week in two separate tropical locations without
any ill effects.
The following trees (most of which are found in tropical locations)
can also provide water:
Palms, such as buri, coconut, sugar, rattan, and nips, contain a sugary,
drinkable liquid. If you bruise a lower frond and pull it down, the tree will
excrete liquid at the site of the injury. Cut another slice every 12 hours to renew
the flow.
The Baobab tree, which is found in the sandy plains of northern Australia and
Africa, collects water during the wet season in its bottlelike trunk. Water can
occasionally be found in these trees even after weeks of dry weather.
Some of the trees in the banana family can hold up to 2 quarts (2 L) of water
at the base of the chevron of their leaf stalks (where the leaves attach to the
trunk).Water from a Well
Remember when you were a kid at the beach and you dug a hole so deep
that water eventually started seeping through the walls of your creation?
Well, you can use this method to procure fresh water in a survival situa
tion. (If you’re going to the effort of digging a hole, however, and have the
necessary hardware on hand, you’d be better off making a solar still.)
I have dug for water in many places, often to no avail, but was suc
cessful when surviving in the plains and forested regions of northern
South Africa. There, I found a mudhole contaminated by wild boar feces
and urine. I moved a short distance downstream of the mudhole and
dug a small hole in the soft sand. Within a short time I had a hole full of
water—muddy, but free of animal feces and bacterial pollutants.
Water (^) | 83