Mark and James and all,

My experience would seem to prove James correct.  I have two sons. Mike
gets poison ivy if he walks past it.  I do too. So does my husband. We
swell and burn and itch and get terrible blisters. The other son, David,
has never had a single speck of rash.  And I can vouch for the fact that
they have done all the same things.  Gone to the same camps, played in the
same woods, hiked barelegged over the same trails, failed to wash well when
they came in...I mean, these kids spent most of their summers at camp, as
campers, then as counselors, at a camp that has so much poson ivy it gives
me the shudders. One gets it, the other doesn't.

I would like to know why it is, though, that some of us react to the stuff
and others don't.  It must operate like an allergy, or just BE an allergy.
Once after I had a particularly bad case that lasted and lasted, I went
about 7 years without a bit of poison ivy, no matter what I did. An MD told
me that I had probably desensitized myself. But that it wouldn't last for
life.  It didn't.

Oddly enough, although we customarily think only of the three you named in
this category...Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac...  I have heard
that the Orange Trumpet Vine, Campsis radicans in the Bignonia family,
that grows on roadsides, produces a similar reaction in SOME people. I know
those who get that reaction. I don't. And I have picked bouquets of the
stuff.

Whatever, we'd all be well advised to learn what all this stuff looks like
and avoid it when out collecting...it could be that after repeated
exposure, you, James and my David will eventually become sensitized and get
a heck of a case where  you never got it before. It can sure make you
miserable.  And it seems to grow in every state in the U.S, and in most
habitats from wet to dry, deep shade to full sun.  Son Mike, when a 7 year
old in summer camp, got The Punishment for some rule infraction...he was
sent to hug a tree.  He refused. Counselor said yes. Mike said no.
Counselor said Hug the tree! Mike said no.  Finally, when all else failed,
the bright counselor thought to ask Mike why he wouldn't hug the tree.
"Because it's covered with poison ivy!" he answered, probably smugly. The
counselor found another tree for him to hug. But even at that young age, he
knew his three-leaved dangers. (The story came from the counselor.)

Lynn Scheu
Louisville KY
[log in to unmask]

At 06:02 AM 10/01/1999 -0000, you wrote:
>Mr. James Cheshire, you wrote " . I myself am immune to it," what are you
>kidding me , oh please stop ROFLMAO !!!!! It's like being "immune" too
>hangovers , it's physiological impossibility. Poison Ivy, oak, sumac and the
>like have leaves that release a oily acid , so unless you have skin that's
>impervious to acid (you don't even how macho you think you are) it will get
>you , now you might have never actually came in contact with the leaves or
>branches but immune , Of course if your an alien , there's a good
>possibility . But then again , lets see your resident alien card .....
>weaseled!!!!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: James M Cheshire <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Thursday, September 30, 1999 8:43 PM
>Subject: Poison Ivy, ect.
>
>
>>Dear all, just writing one last note about the poison
>>ivy discussion. When I sent the first letter regarding
>>prevention of poison ivy, it was not for my own benefit.
>>I was just getting some info on it for my friends, who often
>>hike in the woods with me during land-snail collecting,
>>and have gotten it quite badly before. I myself am immune to it,
>>a trait I got from my father. I have often been hired to get rid of the
>>stuff, which I pull up with my hands. I just wanted to inform everyone
>>who was in on this discussion.
>>
>>Kindest Regards,
>>James
>>
>