Latvia’s armed forces took to Twitter this weekend to warn sneaky mushroom-pickers against venturing onto restricted training ranges where they run the risk of getting shot or even blown up while seeking the perfect fungi.
“Mushroomers! Intensive military exercises with live ammunition are taking place in the Adazi military zone,” tweeted Latvia’s National Armed Forces (NBS) on Saturday, referring to a training range just north of the capital Riga.
“We invite you to choose safer mushrooming sites,” the NBS @Latvijas_armija added.
Subsequent tweets pointed out that trespassing on military ranges was both illegal and dangerous and could also wreak havoc with ongoing military exercises.
The Adazi base is home to more than 1,000 NATO troops from Albania, Italy, Canada, Poland, Slovenia and Spain as part of the alliance’s so-called enhanced Forward Presence (eFP), designed to deter Russian aggression.
That number is in addition to local Latvian forces and a separate US presence.