A friendly reminder at my expense

[mhof86]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to throw out a friendly heads up to mind your surroundings and pay attention when out in the woods. Over the weekend I helped my father-in-law set up a tree stand. Everything went well including the clearing of a couple shooting lanes for him. The down side..... We cleared right through some fairly heavy poison ivy. I am now suffering from itchy red hell all over my face and arms and some other parts that I shall not mention. My father-in-law got it much worse and his eye swelled shut. He went in for treatment today.

Of all the times I have cautioned others on poison ivy and all the times I have been in the woods it only takes a second to forget about the simplest things. Luckily my lapse in better judgment only led to a simple rash. Applied elsewhere it could have been so much worse.

With everyone getting out and enjoying this time of the year just be careful and be mindful of your surroundings. You never know what is going to happen. Hope everyone has fun out there.

[Pat B]

I'm very rarely affected by PI. That's good too because our woods are full of it. 

[paoliguy]

I have noticed a LOT of poison ivy this year where I hunt, Must have been a good year for the stuff! Thanks for the reminder, sorry you had to do it this way though!

[Danzn Bar]

its amazing how some people is effected and some aren't.
DBar

[lenador]

I've never been effected by poison ivy or sumac. I know people who do and have had it really really bad.

[mhof86]

It is strange and this is the first time I got it really bad. Sometimes I would get a bump or two but even that was rare. I will be very cautious from here on out though.

[mullet]

Never bothered me either. I've had the sun come up during Spring Turkey season to see that I was sitting in it chin deep. I heard it might be from eating mangoes when I was young and peeling them with my teeth. Always wondered why my lips would blister sometimes eating them.

[chamookman]

Years ago, on the Farm I used to work on - the Farmer and His Brother were cleaning up a spot in a fencerow and burning the remainder. Both ended up in the Hospital from breathing the Poison Ivy smoke - neither had a problem with it till that time. Bob

[mullet]

They were lucky. The smoke is full of the toxin oils when you burn it.

[paoliguy]

I can start breaking out just reading this post about poison ivy. Neither of my kids seem to be very allergic if at all. It is some odd stuff.

[sleek]

I had one reaction once and it scared the crap out of me. Started as a little annoying rash. Then spread about the size of a dollar on my arm and other places that are no fun to have it on. Two nights later I woke from sleep only to find I couldnt move. I was literally paralyzed for hours. My wife was at work and phone on the floor out of reach. I couldnt move any part of my body but my head. That lasted untill about noon and took all day before it went away. Worst feeling ever.

[4dog]

I camped in it last classic....never had a prob...cept two ticks cause i slept in my clothes...no PI.

[JW_Halverson]

A doctor explained it to me this way: "We are all born with some degree of immunity.  After that, you start to lose your immunity.  Don't push your luck, buddy."

You see, I was standing in the stuff up to my knees digging a p.i. plant out with my pocket knife so I could show the thing, roots and all, telling the park visitors that I was never bothered by the stuff.  After that, I bought a plant I.D. book and bookmarked the page to show park visitors. 

[sleek]

Geee JW, why did you buy the book when you could have dried the PI up and saved it in the pages of a book? Then you wouldnt have to foul out you knife blade. I understand the temptation of using a blade as a digging tool but it ruins an edge. So I TOTALLY get why you quit digging up poison ivy,  maybe you could plant some in a planter pot or something? Just an idea so you can handle it without ruining an otherwise good blade.

[mwosborn]

I have to watch very carefully when in the woods - if I walk through it I will break out.  It is actually caused by the immune systems response to the oils found on the plant.  The oil is actually "harmless" - however, the immune system sees it as a foreign substance and "attacks" it - this is what causes the rash.  For many people the more exposures, the more sensitive your immune system becomes.  I got my first case during the winter ripping out a "vine" growing on the house I was renting (had no leafs and I didn't know it was pi).  I have had it several times since - it doesn't take much for me to get a reaction now!!  I am happy when the first hard frost hits - the leaves lose their oils pretty quickly after that.  Here is an short article on the subject if you are interested.

http://www.bio.umass.edu/micro/immunology/poisoniv.htm