That confidence can be fatal, experts say. Nearly 200 people have died in Russia and Ukraine this summer from poisonous mushrooms, and casualties have been rising in recent years. Mushroom sales have been banned in several regions. Everyone thinks it's a problem that concerns other people. Millions of Russians and Ukrainians, rural and urban, spend free mornings from July to September stepping softly through damp woods, their eyes scanning for white, yellow, red and tan caps poking up beneath ferns and pine needles.
Grandparents teach grandchildren to delight in the challenge of the hunt.
The composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky used to jot down melodies during solitary mushroom-gathering expeditions in his hometown of Klin north of Moscow. Author Leo Tolstoy wrote joyously of the pastime. Safonov says most mushroom poisonings are caused by overconfidence, and recommends people seek a second opinion on whether their mushrooms are safe. Officials often blame poverty for the recent increase in mushroom deaths. As economies have shriveled in the decade since the Soviet Union's collapse, many Russians and Ukrainians rely more and more on homegrown or hand-picked food for sustenance.