You think you know someone.

[janedoe]

We have been hiring a guy for years to help us with our property, especially tree work. I think of him as the guy who does the chain saw stuff. That's just not my thing. This kind of thing is a side job for him.

He has become a friend and we talk a lot about dogs and gardening, life events and random stuff. So imagine my surprise when we were talking today about clearing a particularly overgrown area and I told him that there may be poison oak back there but I wasn't sure because I didn't have any experience with it and he said,

"I don't know what it looks like. I'm immune. Poison ivy, poison oak, all of it."

WHAAAAT?!? He's like a human goat! Sort of. You know what I mean.

We have to have a little chat. That's what he should be selling. None of this tree stuff. People would pay good money for him to go in and take that stuff out!

[POPTOP]

Had to look that up. One article states 85% of humans will react to exposure to poison ivy and poison oak. 15% will have no reaction. Who knew!

[janedoe]

Had to look that up. One article states 85% of humans will react to exposure to poison ivy and poison oak. 15% will have no reaction. Who knew!

That's what I read too! Makes me want to touch it. Maybe. Or not.

[SunDance]

I had horrible reactions to the stuff when I was younger. The last time I plunged my hands into a large planting of it, I forgot to wash up well when I got home...and was on the lookout for itchies for weeks after. Nothing.

I won't be testing myself to see if I became truly immune but it's a nice thought.

A man I used to work with told the story of how he was immune and went into an area to clear out vines growing on trees. That's when he found out that you can have skin immunity but still react severely when you burn the stuff. I imagine that wasn't pretty.

[Snowshoe]

I've never had a reaction to poison ivy. But I read exposure to it is cummulative and eventually I will. So I am careful.

Jet and I used to gather golf balls where the golf course is split by the trail. A couple of times we found golfers trying to find their own balls and there they'd be, wearing shorts, nearly knee deep in poison ivy. I'd tell them, "You know, that's poison ivy you're in." Not once did any of them wildly leap out. Either they figured, too late now. Or they thought I was lying so I could send my dog in to get all the balls.

A golfer friend is so sensitive to the stuff he wouldn't take any of our found golf balls, even after I hosed them all off.

[Kleb]

I was walking along the river last weekend and notice poison ivy. Turned around and headed the other way. No reaction, nothing, not even a tiny blister. I did have a reaction to poison oak many years ago.

[Snowshoe]

I was walking along the river last weekend and notice poison ivy. Turned around and headed the other way. No reaction, nothing, not even a tiny blister. I did have a reaction to poison oak many years ago.

Are you seeing more and more of the stuff than you ever did before? I am. I blame global warming as I notice it's one of the last things to sprout up in spring and one of the first to die off when it gets cooler in fall. So it seems to like a warmer climate and our climate is definitely warming. Great, poison ivy spreading, Lyme Disease spreading, West Nile, Opossums, Giant Hog Weed....

ETA: Found this:

https://weather.com/science/nature/n...climate-change

[Jeff]

I don't react much to it either. I have had a couple small blisters on my legs after walking through it in shorts, but nothing really to write home about, didn't even need anti itch.