Posion Ivy Question?

[RKenney]

There is an old tree on my propery that is covered up in posion
ivy. From the ground up to about 6 or 7 feet, it is browesed
down by the deer.

The question is, is poison ivy that nutritious for deer and how
in the world do they eat that stuff! I know a deer is not a
human, but you would think the oily poison would be bad for any
animal to ingest.

 

[BowGirl]

:cool: Goats love it too.

 

[Diehard Hunter]

Deer love it, and they are not allergic to the oils

 

[BSK]

Heck, some humans are not alergic to the oils. I'm not. I can roll in the stuff and have no reaction.

 

[Football Hunter]

Heck, some humans are not alergic to the oils. I'm not. I can roll in the stuff and have no reaction.

me too

 

[RKenney]

You guys are lucky. I can get near it and I might have a
"reaction". It has never happened to me, but I know several
people who got covered up with the poison by burning it. I guess
the smoke contains the wicked poison.

I know now that one has to be alergic to get those dreadful
itching and running bumps on their skin. If this poison helps
antler growth........I'm in business (ha)!

 

[cweand]

I have read in several hunting books that ivy is like cotton candy to deer. So when I scout I look for patches where they have been feeding on it. I used to work outdoors and never got it but did get sumac. But that all changed one year after I turned 45, I was up a tree at Shelby Forest and had some cuts on my face and arms. That let the beast in and now to this day if I touch it I got it.

 

[BSK]

I have read in several hunting books that ivy is like cotton candy to deer.

I wouldn't consider it a highly preferred food, but definitely a "staple" food. Generally, if I see heavy browsing of poison ivy, that deer herd is over-populated for the current habitat.

 

[BSK]

You guys are lucky. I can get near it and I might have a "reaction".

Your histamine system--what produces the reaction to allergens--has a "memory." Any time you come in contact with the oils your body is allergic to, your histamine system remembers every part of your body that has experienced the reaction in the past and reproduces that reaction again. In essence, if you had a bad reaction on your legs in the past, but the next time you contact poison ivy you only touch it with your hands, your histamine system will reproduce the outbreak/reaction on your legs again as well as where you contacted it this time--your hands. Basically what you get is a "cummulative" reaction over time, so that every outbreak gets worse than the last.

It has never happened to me, but I know several people who got covered up with the poison by burning it. I guess the smoke contains the wicked poison.

Yes, the oils can be carried on the smoke and breathed in. And for someone who is highly allergic to the oils, breathing them in can be deadly. They can produce a reaction inside the lung causing the tissues to swell and block oxygen, resulting in death by asphyxiation.

 

[Boone 58]

Yep, it is one of their staple diet favorites and before i had read it in print i would have told someone they were crazy to have notioned it. But in stomach searches it is proven they eat it! Jay Langstons book also mentions it on the "Tennessee Deer" .

 

[woodchuckc]

Your histamine system--what produces the reaction to allergens--has a "memory." Any time you come in contact with the oils your body is allergic to, your histamine system remembers every part of your body that has experienced the reaction in the past and reproduces that reaction again. In essence, if you had a bad reaction on your legs in the past, but the next time you contact poison ivy you only touch it with your hands, your histamine system will reproduce the outbreak/reaction on your legs again as well as where you contacted it this time--your hands. Basically what you get is a "cummulative" reaction over time, so that every outbreak gets worse than the last.

Actually the reaction does not involve histamine, which is why antihistamines are ineffective as a treatment for poison ivy and why it takes a day or two for the blisters to appear (reactions caused by histamine occur within minutes and is only involved in a subset of the various types of allergic reactions called acute hypersensitivities). It is a type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction (contact dermatitis) caused by chemicals called cytokines that are released by a certain population of immune cells in the body in response to exposure of the skin to urishiol, an oil found in the leaves and stems of poison ivy. There are not very effective treatments for affected skin - the main thing is to avoid scratching which prolongs the rash stage and can result in infections (anti-itch creams and baking soda can help with this). In severe cases, or in cases of poison ivy smoke inhalation or ingestion corticosteriods help to suppress the immune system reaction.

Most people will develop a poison ivy allergy with repeated exposure, but a few (about 10%) never seem to become allergic. I just started getting a mild reaction about 5 years ago, and I really try to limit my direct exposure now since the reaction tends to get more and more severe with subsequent exposures.

 

[BSK]

Thanks for the clarification woodchuckc.

Strangely, I was highly allergic to poison oak, a common plant out west, but I have no reaction at all to eastern poison ivy, unless the surface of the skin is broken. On several occassions I've gotten a reaction along a blackberry or other brier scratch, but the bumps only occur right in the cut.

 

[stik]

when i was a kid, i could walk by poison ivy and get covered up. now i can roll in it, pick it or whatever with no reaction. the boys are also not allergic.

 

[Winchester]

I have to literally rub/crush it on my direct skin to contract it as well. If I try hard enough I can get it however. I have literally tore whole vines off trees while hanging stands and got it a few times before.

 

[TS_13]

Good explaination woodchuckc. I just asked one of my gradstudents to try explain the reaction. :o) she knew the jist.

 

[woodchuckc]

Good explaination woodchuckc. I just asked one of my gradstudents to try explain the reaction. :o) she knew the jist.

If it is not a topic I teach the med students or nursing students (and immunology isn't), I at least try to know enough about most topics so I don't look too stupid in front of 100 or so of them when someone asks an "off the wall" question. Usually I know just enough to be dangerous! :grin:

 

[TS_13]

Me too! hahaha..... Yeah I have to know a decent bit of immunology, problem is they always seem to ask me the parts I dont know.

where do you teach?

 

[woodchuckc]

VU med school.

You?

 

[TS_13]

yep vandy...med north

 

[Boone 58]

I hate the stuff!

 

[RUGER]

I could used to handle it and never have a problem.

I still don't get it bad but I get it between the same two fingers and on my left hand.

Weird.

 

[Good time Charlie]

I can't get near it ,I cut some firewood one year that was laced with the dreaded plant.I had that stuff everywhere,I still remember the oatmeal baths and benadryl.

 

[Greg M]

Good to hear since the crap was everywhere around my property when I went up there to work last week.

 

[TheLBLman]

Only time I get it is when I'm by myself or with someone.

 

[BlackBelt]

My hunting buddy is a doc, and he prescribes a topical cream for me when I get poison ivy. The cream is called "Clobetisol Propianate .05%"
It's cheap at Walgreens, and it takes about 1 or 2 days to get over the worst of the poison ivy. By day 3 it's pretty much gone.
If you guys get poison ivy and need to to be gone fast, ask your doc for a prescription for it.
It is a topical steroid cream, so you don't want to over do using it. However, for the occasional outbreak, it's works very well.

 

[Rowdy]

Lucky I guess...I seem to be immune

 

[downthebrown]

I can verify the smoke scenario. I missed 14 days of school after playing in the smoke of a burning brush pile. I seriously looked like I got in a fight with Mike Tyson. Both eyes were swollen shut, my lips were fat, and my nose was huge. Twenty years later, I rarely have bad reactions. My advice, after years of dealing with it is take a hot shower asap. Once you see you do have a rash, mix chlorox and laundry powder to make a paste, rub it on the rash and have a scratching good time. It will burn like heck for a short time, but it will feel better afterwards. This has proven VERY effective for someone who has dealt with this demon for years, me.

 

[Boone 58]

In stomach studies done over time in Tennessee this is one of the common items found in them. Amazing, but just goes to show you we have to look at what they eat and not what we think they will like to eat in our own understanding.

 

[Anonymous]

I was reading something about a year ago pertaining to the active chemical in poison ivy. Ther was a company that manufactured brake shoes and one ingredient that they used was the dust from crushed pecan shells, it contained the same active chemical as poison ivy, they said that some people could develop a immunity to it and some just had to quit the job because they were consumed with ther bodies reaction to it.

Just wunderin, is ter a way that it can be wiped out, maybe round up ???

 

[DOC1187]

i have never had it but if you eat alot of deer meat possibly you could get immune to eat lol