Having a "not so good" day

[brhodes]

Thats not good.

When I lived in Texas we used bleach on a cotton ball dab it on the bites. I think it does help.

Wife said; Bleach and toothpaste with fluoride. she lived down there for most of her life.

Corn meal with borax 50 / 50 will kills them on the hill. (Not on your skin) Just to be clear.

When I lived in Texas I had a standing appointment with my bug guy every 6 months. Best money I ever spent.

Michigan has big mosquitoes but I've learned not to feel them.

Bill

 

[brhodes]

Wow I would have never guest?


http://nbc4i.com/2016/05/27/woman-dies-from-fire-ant-attack-1-day-after-her-mother-died/

 

[brhodes]

Ok don't tell my wife. So I got to looking

I would go with A&M

http://fireant.tamu.edu/controlmethods/twostep/

Bill

 

[jchamberlin]

Wayne: I think you were lucky: "twenty minutes and it was all over with." I've been bit twice, both times the grass and ground was wet and I was wearing flip-flops. Twenty minutes and my pain was just getting started. I've heard and tried using vinegar to cool the burn, and it works, but only temporarily. The real problem comes when I put the affected foot (or feet) in socks and shoes: any sort of movement and my feet feel like they are on fire. It takes a good week for everything to get back to "normal" and frequently itching, oozing pustules hang around much longer. It only takes one to six bites to set me off. Once again, I think you've been lucky.

Note: I'm extremely allergic to poison ivy, so perhaps I'm a bit more sensitive than some, but they are certainly no joke to me.

Glad you survived.

Edit: Doug, I think you did the lady a favor putting her car out of its misery; she is definitely the winner in all this.

 

[wshytle]

Jeremiah-

Sorry to hear you have such a bad reaction. I guess I was lucky. I was also surprised that it wasn't that bad for me. Maybe I just tolerate it better than some.

When I was a very young boy I use to break out from poison ivy very badly. There were times when I was kept home from school it got so bad. One day an old man told me to find 3 young poison ivy leaves and eat them which I did. I had it at both ends for a couple of weeks but after that I never got it as badly as before. I'm still a little allergic but nowhere close to what it was.

.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne,

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

One day an old man told me to find 3 young poison ivy leaves and eat them which I did. I had it at both ends for a couple of weeks but after that I never got it as badly as before.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

 

[jchamberlin]

Wayne: I'm with Kraig, I can't believe you did it, but I do believe that you "had it at both ends for a couple of weeks." I've always found that a properly timed trip to the beach (salt water) was a good way to dry poison ivy out. Immediately after exposure, the product Zanfel is worth what they charge for it, and no, the generics are not as good (or as helpful).

When I was a boy, I remember reading (in a book written to introduce the outdoor life to young men), that the way to keep a skunk from spraying you was to grab it by the tail and hold if off the ground. The account went on to explain that the skunk needed to make contact with the ground in order to activate the muscles needed to release its musk.

Upon reflection as an adult, I think the author was setting the gullible young reader up for a stinky surprise --a real life lesson, if you will, to not always believe what you read, but use some common sense.

I don't mean to say that your old man was trying to put one over on you, I'm just saying I'm not going to look for some young ivy leaves to eat.

 

[wshytle]

I was probably 10 years old at the time. I remember I wrapped the leaves in a piece of tissue so I wouldn't get it in my mouth (yeah right) and swallowed.

Like I said, after all of the itching and scratching were over with I never got it as bad. I guess that type of advice could get an adult arrested today and it might could have done me in. I don't remember what Mom had to say about it (probably didn't tell her in fear of a whoopin'). We lived a mile out of Chapel Hill then and at that time it was very rural. I stayed in the woods as a boy and had PI breakouts somewhere on my body all of the time. Hunting and fishing were my life and I wasn't going to let a small thing like scratching stop me.

I guess in this day and time kids don't have those types of things to worry about. It's hard to contract PI while sitting on the couch playing video games.

.

 

[kmcconaughey]

I'm not sure if I've ever had a reaction to Poison Ivy. I've gotten some small rashes on my hand a couple of times over the years but I think it was from some other plant that I didn't get along with. There is a big patch of Poison Ivy growing along the opposite side of the road, between the shoulder and the woods, that runs along the West side of my property. Two years ago I noticed that some of it was growing under a Red Pine in my yard. Last summer I dug it up, double bagged it and threw it in the trash. Then in the fall I dug up the few plants that had re-sprouted double bagged them and threw them in the trash. I thought I got ride of it, but now there are three new plants sprouting under that Red Pine that I need to dig out. Dang stuff is hard to get rid of. Thankfully I haven't gotten any of the oil on my skin while digging it out, but I took plenty of precautions. When I did get something on my skin that caused a rash/itching, I would rub Plantain leaves on the area and the itching would stop for a few hours and it seemed to speed the healing. I'm referring to the Plantain weed not the Banana like plant. Plantain weed grows just about everywhere. It works great for relieving the itching from mosquito bites too.

 

[wshytle]

Kraig-

Poison ivy grows a wonderful little seed pod that birds love apparently. They eat them and WaLa!, you have another sprout right below where the bird relieved itself. Put a hawk statue out there and the poison ivy might stop coming back.

Plus, if you were allergic you'd know it.

.

 

[jchamberlin]

Kraig: All I can say is that you are even luckier than Wayne (in not having a reaction to Poison Ivy).

Wayne: I remember spending most of my time as a child playing outside too. Stayed out until the street lights came on. Played with my brothers, our friends, and the neighbors. We played "Combat, or hide & seek in the summer, I had a basketball net in my (dirt) back yard, ice skating and cross-country skiing in the winter. Sometimes when we got older, my buddies and I would go up to the college and either play tennis on the campus courts, or pool in a dormitory. I wish I was as fun-loving now as I was then. I'm working all the time and enjoying it less-and-less.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jeremiah, I had classmates in grade school that I recall were frequently covered in calamine lotion. One in particular claimed he didn't even have to touch it, just being anywhere near where it was growing and he'd get a rash and other symptoms.

I think tomorrow I'll be digging out the three plants that sprouted up. We got a little over 2" of rain yesterday so the ground will be nice and easy to dig in.

 

[lhinds]

Kraig I use roundup full strength and a small paint brush on the leaves. Works great for me. Just takes a few days.

 

[sblunier]

The urshl oil in poison ivy that causes the rash also is present in the roots. Touching them is just as bad as the leaves, even after its dead.

Full strength round up then rubber gloves.

Never burn it.....inhaling the smoke can give you poison ivy in your lungs.....very serious.