Dangerous plants

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Random 8

Random 8

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My nemesis in the woods is poison ivy and it's relatives. I'm severely allergic, a severe exposure can require hospitalization. Since I work in underground utilities, I'm constantly on the watch for it and despite my best efforts usually get at least a mild case a couple times per year.

Recently, I visited family in South Carolina to help them get the forested portion of their new homestead in order and come up with a management plan. Part of the project was dropping a few dead loblolly pines that were quite large, and using the logs for some projects. I was informed of the presence of poison oak in the area, so took extreme care not to contact any of the undergrowth, and remove and clean clothes and my body immediately after work with Fels Naptha. What I didn't know, was that the stuff grows on vines down there! Big, nasty, hairy vines that were twining all around the trees I was cutting, milling and manhandling. I thought the vines were just virginia creeper or muscadine. Didn't quite require the hospital, but did get some prescription meds and was pretty miserable for a week. I'll take the MN cold vs poison ivy that climbs trees!

What are some of your home remedies and precautions to avoid the urishol family while in the woods hunting, working, etc? Good method of killing the viney stuff?
 
My precaution here on north Florida where my boundary lines are plentiful with poison ivy is to hire someone with young kids. When we first moved in I was unaware of the issue and was trimming bushed with shorts on - the results were brutal and extensive.

Stay covered up, no exposed skin, clothes get removed before you enter the house; wearing a full body suit for painters or similar will help
 
When I was much younger, I missed weeks of school due to contacting poison ivy. The blisters would burst and a yellow liquid would leak out. The doctor prescribed potassium permanganate soaks which turned my skin brown. When I was able to return to school, the other kids would tease me about being part Negro.

Eventually, they came up with cortisone pill packs that got it under control and an injection that desensitized me. It ached like crazy for 2-3 days afterward but was much better than putting up with the poison ivy after effects. I had the injections every year for 4 years. 50 years later I now have no reaction when I get into the stuff. The pain was well worth it.

Consult the internet and your family doctor as to what treatments are now available.
 
As a kid I got poison ivy really bad, even get it in the winter somehow. Now 29 I haven't got it in about 10 years, maybe some annuity thing I don't know. Keeping covered up as a kid was never a option and if I did my hands have a mind of there own so I'd be touching something sooner or later.

Best thing that worked for me was a swim in the pool.
 
Random 8 said:
My nemesis in the woods is poison ivy and it's relatives. I'm severely allergic, a severe exposure can require hospitalization. Since I work in underground utilities, I'm constantly on the watch for it and despite my best efforts usually get at least a mild case a couple times per year.

Recently, I visited family in South Carolina to help them get the forested portion of their new homestead in order and come up with a management plan. Part of the project was dropping a few dead loblolly pines that were quite large, and using the logs for some projects. I was informed of the presence of poison oak in the area, so took extreme care not to contact any of the undergrowth, and remove and clean clothes and my body immediately after work with Fels Naptha. What I didn't know, was that the stuff grows on vines down there! Big, nasty, hairy vines that were twining all around the trees I was cutting, milling and manhandling. I thought the vines were just virginia creeper or muscadine. Didn't quite require the hospital, but did get some prescription meds and was pretty miserable for a week. I'll take the MN cold vs poison ivy that climbs trees!

What are some of your home remedies and precautions to avoid the urishol family while in the woods hunting, working, etc? Good method of killing the viney stuff?
Click to expand...

"leaves of three. leave it be" and calamine lotion. Fortunately, I've only had poison ivy once. When we were on bivouac in Basic, during the 'how to camo up your LBE' lesson, some (city) guys used poison oak for camo. They filled a duece with the botanically challenged. I used grapevines. They wrap nicely around the LBE and helmet, and can be eaten, if needs be.
 
Sorry to hear about your plight.

I avoid it. On past occasions when I couldn't, I didn't have a reaction. Then I did get into Poison Oak and had a reaction. It was a surprise. First, that I had a reaction. Second, that I managed to find Poison Oak. Evidently, while Poison Ivy is fairly common around here, Poison Oak is extremely rare. To make things worse it happened while I was traveling. I remember calling my wife and asking if she changed laundry detergent or something. It was miserable.

I don't have any suggestions other than avoid it.
 
Ok so I DONT recommend this but one of the best ways I have found to settle down poison ivy rash is to rub it down with copious amounts of lacquer thinner. Dries it and the rest of your skin right out.

I just don’t get poison ivy anymore it seems. I do landscaping on the side and do a bit of property cleanups. I watch out for it a bit but I am not overly vigilant.

I got a small itchy rash that consisted of a smaller than dime size welt that I suspect was poison ivy but who really knows. That was after tearing down a bunch of vines off of a few trees on the backside of my home’s property.
 
A few comments about the contact dermatitis caused by poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. I'm an expert partly because I've had it so many times.

1. You can get it from any part of the plant; not just the leaves.
2. If you wash it off within about 30 minutes you will probably not get it quite so bad. After that, it's tightly bound to the skin and it won't wash off.
3. There is NOTHING to kill so don't use Fel's Naptha soap, bleach, alcohol or the other stuff your hair dresser will tell you to use.
4. Steroids work. Personally, I wouldn't get a shot or take anything by mouth though with an extensive case, I can see why some take steroids in that way. I've found that a high potency corticosteroid cream or ointment applied once or twice a day for two or three days is all it takes to make things all better. Keep in mind that corticosteroids, especially the high potency ones, can cause disfiguring skin atrophy is use to much especially if used on thin skin. Systemic corticosteroids can worsen diabetes and high blood pressure and can cause cataracts so I would rely on them as little as possible.
5. Other people could get poison ivy, etc. from unwashed clothing which was contaminated with the resin but since it's tightly bound to the skin, you won't give it to anyone else by touching them.
 
Had a friend who was a forester here in Florida turn me on to this stuff years ago.

https://www.teclabsinc.com/products/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu#

Follow the label directions. Can be applied and allowed to dry on the skin before working in bad areas, or used to wash the skin afterwards.

I have a lot of poison ivy on my property here in Florida. It is often found growing mixed with Virgina Creeper, Pepper Vine, Trumpet Creeper, Smilax, etc whete it can be difficult to discern.

Your best defense are two things.

Learn to distinguish what it looks like. "Leaves of three let it be" is correct. It also has a characteristic shade of green and manner of growth. It is most often found as a vine, but can also run a long ways over the ground, or is some times seen as a short shrub.

WEAR LONG SLEEVES, TROUSERS, AND GLOVES. This is your single best line of defense. Even those of us who know what we're doing do not always see it. Yeah, I know it's hot, but if you want to work in the woods in the South you gotta be tough! If it never touched your skin it can't eat you up. If there was a lot of it in the area wash those clothes in their own load with warm water and plenty of detergent.

Good luck!
 
I have a friend that told me this story himself. He wasn't very smart as a kid, and then he grew up to become a banjo player, (I'm not making this up).
He said as a kid someone had warned him and his friends about poison oak, but he, being a tough guy, wasn't afraid of it. To prove it wouldn't bother him, he rubbed it on his body and even ate some of it. Just about killed him.

Morale of story, poison oak/ivy is not to be taken lightly. Again, I'm not making this up.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
I have scrubbed by skin raw with dawn dishwashing liquid and a green scotch-bright pad. Nasty rash/scab but got the sap out. Gold bond powder offers temporary relief but not a cure.
 
I never used to get (a reaction from) poison ivy until I did a job with someone who was extremely allergic to the stuff. Spent two weeks clearing it away from well covers on a military installation so we could install sign posts - there were nearly 400 locations. By the end of the job I had developed a rash/blisters on both arms that took over a week to clear up.
 
I'm one of those folks that does not react to Poison Ivy. The most dangerous plant in the woods for me is the tree with my stand in it. Ticks, and ground hornets are more my nemesis lately. Thorny Locusts and patches of raspberry and black-caps I try to avoid, but still come home marked up.
 
I’m another that seems to not be affected by it but have family and friends that are. Change clothes and don’t let them even handle them before you wash them, if your one of “us”. They won’t have a clue what happened.

I have heard of people getting in real bad shape burning it, so I make sure no one is around down stream of the smoke if I do.

Hedge trimmers above and below are the best way I have gotten briars out of fences/trails.
 
Caladryl is my friend when working around poison ivy. I wear long pants, long sleeves and heavy gloves when working in the brush. Many years ago I was in a "squirrel hunting blind" that was filled up with the stuff, those clothes got washed twice in hot water and lots of detergent. It took several days to stop itching even with lotions and lots of soap and water. My friend and I used a BUNCH of roundup on the area to get rid of the stuff after I recovered. It is no joke.
 
Mala Mujer, or Cnidoscolus stimulosus. (bad woman plant)

I am still not exactly sure what it looks like, but man... much worse the poison ivy or poison oak for me.
 
Consider seeing an MD to prescribe you some 50mg of Benadryl to have on you just incase, or an epi-pen if it is that serious. In your case avoidance is the best cure.
 
Pushing 80, farm raised, a hunter and outdoors utility worker and have never had it. Either super lucky or some folks are just immune. Even bee or wasp stings, beyond brief pain are mild. Florida fire ants different story.
 
Random 8 said:
My nemesis in the woods is poison ivy and it's relatives. I'm severely allergic, a severe exposure can require hospitalization. Since I work in underground utilities, I'm constantly on the watch for it and despite my best efforts usually get at least a mild case a couple times per year.

Recently, I visited family in South Carolina to help them get the forested portion of their new homestead in order and come up with a management plan. Part of the project was dropping a few dead loblolly pines that were quite large, and using the logs for some projects. I was informed of the presence of poison oak in the area, so took extreme care not to contact any of the undergrowth, and remove and clean clothes and my body immediately after work with Fels Naptha. What I didn't know, was that the stuff grows on vines down there! Big, nasty, hairy vines that were twining all around the trees I was cutting, milling and manhandling. I thought the vines were just virginia creeper or muscadine. Didn't quite require the hospital, but did get some prescription meds and was pretty miserable for a week. I'll take the MN cold vs poison ivy that climbs trees!

What are some of your home remedies and precautions to avoid the urishol family while in the woods hunting, working, etc? Good method of killing the viney stuff?
Click to expand...
Keep prednisone handy. It shuts down allergic reactions in a hurry
 
Cfish said:
Luckily I'm also not bothered by poison ivy, oak or sumac. But big nasty cat briar vines will destroy your skin and equipment when moving through the woods quickly or at night. Cat briars are evil.
Click to expand...
Backing into the thorns of an orange tree is REAL painful
 
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