Mountain rescuers say eager mushroom seekers are abandoning safety procedures as they don camouflage and hunt in darkness to protect coveted troves, la Repubblica newspaper reported.

"There is too much carelessness. Too many people don't give a darn about the right rules and unfortunately this is the result," Gino Comelli, head of the Alpine rescue service in Valle di Fassa, said.

Seventeen people have died in nine days - six in 48 hours alone - mostly from sliding off steep, damp slopes in the northern mountains, la Repubblica said in a story headlined "The massacre of the mushroom hunters".

Another person has been missing for more than a week, it said.

Ansa news agency said a man who had been hunting mushrooms was found dead on Sunday in the Alpine region of Valtellina.

A combination of August thunderstorms and hot weather has led to a bumper mushroom crop that has drawn the first hunters of what is expected to be a boom season.

Submitted on 08/29/2010

Submitted by: Russell Evans
Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/30/2996649.htm

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James said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I'm torn on this one. Usually we don't award mass fatalities, and the write-up (cut and paste article) is rather dry, but TWO people a DAY? Hunting mushrooms??? My guess is that these aren't the "mushrooms" one gets high on (they don't grow in Italy), but rather mushrooms people eat. Are they THAT tasty? Are times so tough that a trip to the market and a few Lire/Euros isn't the wiser choice? Let's see what my fellow mods think!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Each fatality is in a position to be individually responsible for their OWN safety, and they keep doing this in spite of what happens to others doing the same thing. A classic combination of "it can't happen to me", lack of common sense, and failure to learn. Thanks, Russell!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
If this truly has happened to 18+ individuals then the later ones must have known of the predicaments the earlier victims wandered into. Even if they didn't, it sounds like this behavior is definitely worthy of a DA to me. Thanks, Rusell!

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