Might apply Roundup mix to these poison oaks. Ten foot hose. I remember I was able to stand on the ground, and spray water on top of my mobile home. Kind of fun.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Might apply Roundup mix to these poison oaks. Ten foot hose. I remember I was able to stand on the ground, and spray water on top of my mobile home. Kind of fun.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Hi Frank,
2,4D (aka Agent Orange) might work, especially if I could drop it out of the sky like they did in Vietnam - which - is my real problem with weed killers.The poison oak plants I have are 20 feet long by something like 5 to 10 to 20 feet deep, so, there's just no way a normal weed killer sprayer is going to go the distance.
Today I tried to see if I could get my pressure washer to suck out of the
5 gallon pesticide jug - but I couldn't figure out how to do it.Does anyone know how to get a pressure washer to spray the stuff?
I'd say this poison oak plant I just cut today is pretty "woody"! See this picture of the urushiol literally dripping out!
I'm not sure I've adequately explained the MAGNITUDE of my problem. :(
Please look at this picture I just took today of the other side of the poison oak plant I'm trying to kill.
- it would take a very long time!
Now that's a new idea!
I'll google to see what the heck a fruit-tree sprayer looks like!
I failed today to get my pressure washer to work because I couldn't figure out how to get it to suck from the jug instead of from the hose.
The truck-mounted sprayer 'might' work on the curbside plant, if I could afford it - but - look at this picture to see the magnitude of the problem I face.
I had never been sensitive to poison ivy.
But i had a pine tree fall into my yard, and when I cut it up i got a massive exposure. I had moved from Wisconsin where it grew in low bushes, and did not recognize the hairy vines common in Virginia.
That reaction wasn't too bad, but the exposure sensitized me, and Wow! next time I got close to some I needed medical attention.
Sooner or later I think your efforts are likely to have the same effect.
I like the idea of a truck mounted sprayer.
But there will still be tons of poison oak in the inaccessible places like this one I snapped just today about 100 feet below where the pictures were taken yesterday.
On 08 Jan 2013, "Danny D." wrote in alt.home.repair:
God, what a nightmare. I get an allergic reaction to poison ivy just looking at it. Even looking at your pictures gives me itchy blisters.
Those things look malevolent, like they're aware of and looking to catch and kill human beings.
They make cutters that mount on excavators look here
Even better, dairy goats. Drinking the milk of goats that eat poison oak tends to give you a partial immunity.
Funny you should say that, because I treat it like a battleground! :)
I dress up in my protective gear, and I fuel and oil my weapon, and then I survey my enemy, looking for the weak spots in his fortress.
As I attack, he reaches out at any bare skin with chemical warfare (1 cup of urushiol can poison everyone on the entire planet!) and I coil back in fear when it slaps me in the face.
But, while slashing away at the outliers, soon I spy the leadership, a thick set of vines, each the thickness of a baseball bat, and I aim at them as Alexander did Darias, to fight my way past the wounded weeping tendrils guarding the lair, until I can get close enough to strike deep and hard at the core!
IF you don't come up with a better method, at least get a chainsaw extender so that you are further away from the spray.
Goats, by the way (I used to raise them), will eat the leaves and softer stems, not the woody vines. If the leaves are hard to reach, they may not bother, but if they do, the trampling of the vines also helps.
They may chew on the bark of the vines--that part I can't remember. They did like the bark of some trees, but I don't remember whether they liked poison oak bark. (It was thirty years ago)
There are other opinions. One source suggested that 15% are unaffected; another said thirty.
I reacted severely from what was in the air when I got close to it when we first moved to Oregon. But a few years later, I could pick it without gloves and have little or no reaction. Other people who drank goat's milk reported similar experiences. We believe the milk either contains an antidote, or it contains traces of urushiol so small your body has a chance to develop a defense.
But it might be something else entirely. I do think I have a strong immune system, as I never react to a smallpox vaccine. Since I had no scar, the Navy accused me of lying and vaccinated me again. And again, even though the second one (the first Navy one) was documented in my official records.
Unfortunately, my immune system is now attacking my thyroid glands.
Nobody is immune to cell mediated immunity.
I was sensitized to poison ivy way long ago as a kid. I get it as badly as anyone does.
Now that I'm in California, it's poison oak. But it still itches like crazy.
When I get it on my skin, and I don't wash it off, I am red and yellow blisters and itching for weeks on end. Just like you are.
The problem is exacerbated when you see how much oil is in a single plant! Look at this video, for example, of a 3-inch thick vine I cut today.
PS: My camera is soaked in the stuff. I don't know how to clean it yet.
I wonder if it helps to be sensitized as a child to poison ivy (back east) and then to be thoroughly exposed to poison oak (out west).
The only difference in the catechol oil urushiol is poison ivy urushiol has a 15 carbon chain while poison oak urushiol has a 17 carbon chain.
But, slight differences, can sometimes make a huge difference in cell mediated immune responses.
Note: I use free drillers bentonite instead of expensive ivy block; and I use Dawn dishwashing liquid instead of $40/ounce Technu (only the government can afford those prices!).
BTW, here's a dripping vine I cut today, the size of my wrist, just dripping with urushiol!
We're talking different things, so let's clarify. :)
It gets complicated to explain in a USENET post, but let's briefly take these in turn - but this isn't the place for detailed discussions.
I. Nobody is immune. Delayed contact dermititis is a type IV CMI (cell mediated immune response), which nobody is immune to forever. Get exposed frequently enough, and you WILL get it. It's the way your body works.
II. Not every gets the rash all the time This is highly dependent on dosage! Remember the oil is NOT anywhere on the outside of the plant! The oil is protectively ensconced INSIDE the cells. Of course, chain sawing the plant in half tends to allow the oils to leak out ... like this video I just took today of just that:
Anyway, while we're quoting figures, Wikipedia says the following on percentages:
Now, if you're exposed to less urushiol, all bets are off - but - given this picture below, I would safely say anyone exposed to this much potential urushiol had better take some safety precautions (as I do). :)
Goat(s) on a rope?
Butt it's still a good idea.
Hi Wes,
That is an interesting story - but I would caution anyone from actually touching the stuff because of the classic YMMV difference in every situation.
The funny thing about invisible toxins is that we really don't know exactly where the stuff is, and where it isn't.
For example, look at my red sweatshirt & TIG welding gloves today:
The point is - you never know if you've been truly exposed or not, as it's a statistical thing. So, a LOT of people conclude they were exposed and didn't get the rash - when - in reality - they just weren't exposed (or not exposed to enough to make black marks all over their clothes).
When I was in graduate school, I worked part time in a lab, and you'd be amazed at the strangest places we found P32 with the geiger counter. You can't see it - and when you find out where it got - you sit there and ponder how the hell did it get there.
Now, maybe the goats milk matters - because the immune system DOES work the way you said it does (i.e., when exposed at the right time in the immune system development, the immune system learns what is body and what is foreign) - so I am NOT saying you're wrong ... I'm just cautioning anyone from actually touching the stuff with bare hands on purpose!
:)
Urushiol is no different. You didn't get it from "the air". You touched something that had a pinprick drop of oil on it. What you touched could have been 'anything' (remember, the oil is known to remain infectious for
100 years ... in a laboratory drawer anyway).The other thing to remember is that the oil is NOT on the outside of the plant. Not outside the leaves, stem, berries, or root. But it's inside all of them, so, you (and I) can pick it up (gingerly) and nothing bad will happen.
But, when you do this ... now you've gotten that damn plant mad! :)
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