Well, my dad has gone through a lifetime of wading through
poison ivy and related stuff, and he has never developed a case of it.
You are right, I am probably not immune to it, as I have developed a
light, non-itching rash after I have been in the woods. Perhaps luck will
be on my side, like my dad, and I will keep the "resistance" throughout
life. I think from now on I will smear on some jewelweed and put on some
protective clothes before I go in to the woods, just to be safe. Hiking
in winter is better, as the dangerous leaves fall, and it is not as easy
to make contact with the oil, unless you cut the plant, causing the sap
to leak out. Fall is also a good time to hike, as a lot of the poison ivy
leaves are blood-red, making them easier to see and avoid. One of my
friends said that his goats ate the p.i. leaves like salad, and then,
when he drank he milk they produced, he said it gave him a resistance for
quite a few months, and although it eventually wore off, he just drank
more milk,
renewing the resistance. Yep, p.i. is pretty nasty stuff. I will use
extreme caution
next time I am handling it.

Kind Regards,
James