If you're doing yard cleanup this fall, you may encounter poison ivy and the horrible rash that comes with contact. The strangest thing about poison ivy, though, is that it doesn't bother any other creature besides humans. Is it out to get us?
Welcome to this week's edition of Something Wild. I'm Rosemary Conroy for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
If you're doing yard cleanup this fall, you may encounter poison ivy. Most people know within 24 hours. No one can ignore that horrible rash.
Poison ivy contains an oil called urushiol that is the root cause of our misery, although it is found in the leaves, stems and fruits as well. You can't get a rash by just brushing against the plant, you actually have to come in direct contact with a broken piece of it. And, of course, poison ivy is very fragile.
It takes 10-15 minutes for urushiol to bind with your skin cells, so if you think you've come in contact with this nasty oil, wash it off with a strong soap and cool water right away.
Your best defense against poison ivy, however, is to learn how to identify it in its many guises. It can be a sturdy shrub, a tree-climbing vine or a low-lying plant. For the most part it always has those three famous leaves.
Poison ivy also tends to stick to areas that have been disturbed a lot - roadsides, hayfields and campgrounds, for example. At this time of year it also sports clusters of greyish-white berries that birds happen to love. That's how it spreads- the old input-output method.
The strangest thing about poison ivy is that it doesn't bother any other creature besides humans. All kinds of animals can eat it without harm. How can that be? Is it out to get us? Well, scientists think it is just an unfortunate evolutionary byproduct and nothing more. In fact, some researchers think we should be grateful to poison ivy because its study has led to some key breakthroughs in understanding the human immune system.
Hmm... gratitude to poison ivy... no, that may be getting a bit "rash."
Something Wild is a joint production of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, New Hampshire Audubon and New Hampshire Public Radio. For Something Wild, I'm Rosemary Conroy.
