Gourd or squash, how can you tell?

[Zeedman]

My mom told us as kids that gourds were poisonous. She told us that about everything though, lol.

That is partially true, for some gourd species. The 'gourds' in the photo, however, are just ornamental varieties of C. pepo. They should all be 'edible'... but being 'edible' does not necessarily mean being 'palatable'. Chances are they would not be pleasant.