Check your woodpile carefully..

[egalecki]

My woodpile has given me a lovely case of poison ivy for Christmas.

So be careful what you pick up and tuck up against your sweatshirt! Not to mention what you burn, I apparently got lucky enough not to inhale whatever poison ivy I'm sure I must have burned!

[Les]

We don't have poison ivy or poison oak here. One of the benefits of living in altitude. How did it get into your wood pile?

les...

[egalecki]

I'm sure it was as a vine on some of the bark of the locust or walnut that's in there. Just because it doesn't have leaves anymore doesn't mean it won't work you over!

[thebadger]

Small rodents too.

Dick

[70chevelle]

Years ago a neighbor was burning. My wife was having trouble breathing that night. After a 6 hour stay in the emergency room, the doc figured out that she contracted poison ivy in her throat & lungs from the neighbor burning it. Not a fun day to say the least.

[Wiley]

Ouch! so what are you doing for it? Calamine lotion? We used to use a tea made from Madrone leaves that helped dry out the sores in conjuntion with Fels Napha Soap to neutralize the oil. It is sometimes hard to find Fels Napha soap but worth the search.

One (of many things) I don't miss about California was the prevalence of poison oak. If one didn't get it from direct contact on a hike then one got it from petting the family dog. Worst thing where I now live is stinging nettle.

Wiley

[Pannabecker]

We have a poison ivy vine in our wood shed too but neither of us cuts it out. We just keep talking about cutting it out. Stupid, I know.

At least stinging nettle dies down in the winter. We have that too. Another thing to dodge. I'm thinking of making a nettle wine though.

[RTflorida]

rattlesnakes, black widow, and brown recluse spiders top my list of what to look out for in my wood pile.

RT

[cangrande]

I'll second the 'neighbors burning poison ivy' story. When I was a kid the farmer down the street burned a whole hillside of it. My brother ended up getting a terrible rash on the inside of his eyelids. That wasn't fun.

[Xabia Jim]

I have a bout with poison ivy/oak/sumac every few years whether I need it or not...but...

If it goes systemic and get's worse, go with a prednisone treatment.