I've never had anybody successfully identify the difference between poison ivy and poison oak for me. They look the same to my eyes. --Ediger
On Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 6:15 PM, <dirt...@comcast.net> wrote: > > Poison-ivy and Karst > > How cave related can you get?? (I'll do everything I can to get this site > back on track) > > I grew up in New York and was terribly allergic to poison ivy as a > youngster. Like, someone burned some brush with the vines in the pile, a > half-mile away. Good Lord, was I ever in an awful itchy situation after > the smoke passed over me ------. Fortunately my lungs did not react. > > When I started to do karst and geological things in upstate NY, I > discovered two things: > > 1. To see the bedrock I had to crawl on my belly like a snake up stream > beds. > > 2. I could map the limestone without ever seeing it, just by mapping where > the lush poison ivy grew. (THAT is the Karst tie-in) > > After I came West, I could more easily see Rocks and I gradually lost my > extreme reaction. But I learned what George cautioned: Immunity is lost > by repeated exposure. > > Then I moved to Texas and discovered Poison Oak. It makes TREES going up > the cliffs with trunks as big around as Bob Oakley's thighs around springs > in the Big Bend. ESPECIALLY in what is now Big Bend Ranch State Park. > > > > > >
