Can any wonderful human out there confirm weather or not this is poison ivy, please!? Every time I get rid of it I do a little yard work and then I get it again. I found these but they have 5-leaves.
Thank you from White Lake, MI!
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Absolutely not poison ivy in that pic.
Leaves of 3, let it be!!
That is virgina creeper, not poison ivy
Coyote.
Virginia creeper, could also be a nativar of virginia creeper, Englemenn’s Ivy.
When I first started handling it, I would get a slight itching from the glossier leaves but have since developed an immunity to even that.
x3 on the Virginia creeper.
Poison ivy is super easy to spot once you know what it looks like, and more importantly WHERE to look out for it.
Like a deer, it’s a creature of edges.
It doesn’t like to grow in the woods.
It typically doesn’t like to grow out in the total wide open.
But whenever you’re on the edge of the two, it can very well be there. I’ll blindly walk full speed through either, but always slow down when I’m meeting the edge of the two in an unfamiliar area.
Half shaded road ditches, edges or openings in the woods, field edges with a fence line/hedgerow, etc are prime spots. It likes a lot of sunshine, but not too much. It likes drier areas more than wet areas.
If you Google images of Poison Ivy you’ll see all sorts of variations, but here’s an image of what I see all of the time. Sometimes it looks waxier, some times flatter, but the “leaves of three” rule is a good one to at least grab your attention. It will usually turn red in the fall like a maple leaf, and may or may not have saw teeth any time of the year.
It can grow to be a bush or vine that’s far, tall and wide, but I’ve never personally seen that.
There’s also poison sumac and oak, but I’ve only seen poison sumac a few times (that I’ve noticed, and it was always on a swamp edge) and poison oak isn’t really present here.
The next time you find yourself on an “edge,” be on the lookout. It’s also a perennial, if you see it in one spot this year, you’ll see it again next year. Same goes for edges that don’t have it….you probably won’t ever see it unless there was a big change in shaded cover (like logging, ditch mowing or lack there of, etc).
When I was a kid it never bothered me, but as an adult I’ve been covered in head-to-toe hives with a full reaction after walking through a giant patch in the dark….not cool lol
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When I was a kid it never bothered me, but as an adult I’ve been covered in head-to-toe hives with a full reaction after walking through a giant patch in the dark….not cool lol
My story is just the opposite. I got it head to toe in the winter as a junior in high school. Missed 2 weeks of school because of it.
Since then I get one or two bumps and that is it. I get those normally in the fall grouse hunting from the oil transfer from the dog.
There’s an app for your phone that instantly tells you the name of the plant your pointing the camera at.
Hard to get completely rid of virginia creeper. Some people are really allergic to it. 3 of my 5 kids, brother and neighbor have all had bad cases of it to the point of needing prescription steroid creams for it. The bigger, waxier leaves seem to be the worst. I call them angry plants. Have done a lot of work to get rid of them over 2 decades and they still come back. Gly and dsl work better than just gly, but is a last resort and not encouraging or supporting that. Keeping it cut short helps, but have seen cases were people have gotten it from the roots which doesn’t seem possible cause it seems the oil from the leaves is what causes reactions from it. It spreads through a root system that is an impossible process to get rid of all of the roots. Worked with 4 neighbors to get rid of it to the point it’s tolerable but we aren’t 100% rid of it and probably never will be. Good luck with it.
never had issues with the creeper stuff, i do see it, but like poison ivy i avoid it like a bad beer!!!!!!
as a kid i’d think of poison ivy and get it………..and really bad. i havent had it in years but can spot that crap a mile away. i wouldnt wish that on anybody!!!!
Ill forget bait, rods, electronics all on a fishing trip before I forget to pack Triamcinolone steroid or Tecnu wash. Nothing worse than poison ivy.
There’s an app for your phone that instantly tells you the name of the plant your pointing the camera at.
Inaturalist – Not only id’s plants but birds, animals and snakes. The app will guess what it closely resembles. If you have your settings set up, others will comment on whether they agree.
So far, the app has been 100% correct in the 20sum times I’ve used it.
I’ve never tried to get the oil on me but I’ve never had a case of poison ivy.
10 or so years ago one of the street corners was blocked by mostly buckthorn. I decided on the hottest day of the summer to clean up the corner. The FW came down with some tea and to poke at me for picking this day to clean it up.
I sat down and enjoyed the tea until my neighbor drove by and stopped. He said “you know your laying in poison ivy?”. Sure nuff, the whole corner was filled with three leaves and white berry.
Once I finished, I went home, changed cloths and the FW washed them without touching them. I don’t have enough guts to rub the oils on my arm to see if I’m really immune.
Besides poison ivy be on the lookout for Wild Parsnip. You can get a reaction from it much like poison ivy. It has tiny yellow flowers and tends to grow a few feet tall.
Ivy often accompanies the plant in the pic but I dont see any there.
One more thing, do you know what poison ivy looks like in the winter? woody stem with green berries, don’t ask me how I know! Well anyway as a kid, I picked a bunch, brought it to school 4th grade, my mom arranged it, and guess what? we got it bad, Teacher knew whhat it was, we did not,
On my phone, I use Google “eye” app to identify stuff. Seems to work good.
Don’t burn the Poison Ivy either. It must not be just the oils or maybe the oil goes airborne when you burn it. In any case, you can get that crap in your lungs and it usually means a trip a trip to the ER. Imagine all that itching coming from the inside!
30 years ago I was digging some roots when my brother came over and said, you know you’re in the middle of a lot of Poison Ivy? I wasn’t affected 1 bit but another old root digger said when he hit 60, his body changed and now he can’t get near it.
I wasn’t affected 1 bit but another old root digger said when he hit 60, his body changed and now he can’t get near it.
The body is a strange but fascinating thing. Several years ago my son (6 years old at the time) swore he was having a heart attack after he ate some fish I had just fried. Turns out he was having severe heartburn and we later found out that he somehow became allergic to fish. When he was little he would eat fish like crazy. Now he swells up with something he touches has been in contact with fish. The allergist said you can become allergic to something at any point in life and sometimes become not allergic as well. The odd thing is unlike most people he can eat shellfish, but freshwater or saltwater fish he cannot.
The problem with ivy is normally you don’t know you brushed up against it. If you were certain its not that big of a deal to remove the oil. Too bad it doesnt have a color. That would make it easy to deal with. I have become an expert at spotting it because of having it so many times in my life and never wanting it again.
our family also washes with fels naptha soap if you think you have been in contact with poison ivy, must remove the oil? also can get it bad from your dog, and clothing, or for some do not get it at all
When I was younger I ended up in the hospital from poison ivy. Somehow got it in my eye during deer hunting. My eye swelled shut and it spread on my face. From then on I get it pretty bad but prednisone seems to work well at clearing it up.
There’s also poison sumac
Poison sumac also look like perfect leaves for wiping with, if you’re ever out in the woods without tp. I’ll spare you the rest of the details on how I know, but that following weekend was the worst camping trip ever! 
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
There’s also poison sumacPoison sumac also look like perfect leaves for wiping with, if you’re ever out in the woods without tp. I’ll spare you the rest of the details on how I know, but that following weekend was the worst camping trip ever!
A girl I went camping with back when I was in my early 20s used poison ivy to wipe her front side with. Or squatted on it, or something terrible. Let’s just say no body got lucky on that trip
Inaturalist – Not only id’s plants but birds, animals and snakes. The app will guess what it closely resembles. If you have your settings set up, others will comment on whether they agree.
So far, the app has been 100% correct in the 20sum times I’ve used it.
How about snake’s how does the app work on them. I know you like to get up close and personal with them
Thanks y’all!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
There’s also poison sumacPoison sumac also look like perfect leaves for wiping with, if you’re ever out in the woods without tp. I’ll spare you the rest of the details on how I know, but that following weekend was the worst camping trip ever!
Lol, I would like to add to that story but we can discuss amongst ourselves in a couple weeks over some beverages.
I as well used to get it really bad as a youngster, head to toe, but not so much anymore. I got it during the early part of football season one time on both my legs, I just wrapped my entire legs up and played though it but I don’t think that helped speed up the recovery. Wasn’t fun
Besides poison ivy be on the lookout for Wild Parsnip. You can get a reaction from it much like poison ivy. It has tiny yellow flowers and tends to grow a few feet tall.
Wild parsnip is even worse than poison ivy in that when you get its sap on your skin and expose it to sunlight, it converts to an extremely corrosive compound that burns and scars if left untreated. The best defense against it is to simply wash the exposed skin in soapy water. It’s not an allergen like poison ivy, so everyone is susceptible to it.
On another note: If you’re looking to get rid of virginia Creeper, use a brusk killer on it rather than just glyphosate. Brush killers are more persistent than Gly. Just be sure to only apply it to the VC, ’cause it will kill everything it touches.
Wild Parsnip is nasty. Years back, like 30, we were seining minnows from a local creek and walked right through some in full bloom. It must have something new or just invaded cuz nobody knew about it. Didn’t take long and I was covered in blisters which when they pop, spread it even more. They leave brown scars that take years to go away. I believe we used calamine lotion back then but to stop the spread you had to be really careful with the blisters to blot the blister juice off or it just continued to spread.
There were a couple local gals back then who were referred to as the Blister Sisters.
Oh wait, that’s a different story. never mind. 
Anyone here who’s gotten into poison ivy also allergic to mangoes?
Saw this today and wondering if anyone can confirm it.
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