Photo: Ellen van Bodegom / Moment / Getty Images
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is warning visitors about the danger of toxic mushrooms that thrive in the wooded areas around Berkeley during the rainy season.
Two of the deadliest types of mushrooms, the death cap and the Western destroying angel, contain a lethal chemical compound that causes liver failure. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning typically appear around 12 hours after consumption.
Mushroom collecting is prohibited in Tilden and other EBRPD parks, and experts advise against eating foraged mushrooms, especially if they cannot be identified with certainty.
The California Poison Control System received 71 calls for human mushroom exposures in Alameda County in 2021 and 2022.
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