Leaves of Three...

Poison Oak is spread through out our property. Joni has cleared much of it away from where we do most of our living. All of us have had a few skin eruptions. Kylie had quite a bout of with it, but she got it when we were camping in the Napa Valley.

I was quite worried that we would be plagued with the itchy, blistery skin eruptions chronically. Our dog prances around the property, and the oil of the poison oak gets implanted on the dogs fur. The dog then transfers it to us as we pet, hug and play with her.

That hasn't been the case.

How a snake must see Poison Oak.

I think what has prevented us from getting the skin eruptions is that, almost daily, Joni and the kids take a dunk in the cold, cold waters of the swimming hole. The cold water seems to do the best job of washing away the toxins.

One of our neighbor's swears that if you drink goat milk that has been eating the herb, you will become immune to the oil that causes the skin eruptions. Another friend thought that he could become immune to poison oak by eating it. Not a good idea! He ended up with a systemic infection and wound up in the hospital.

Avoidance is the best bet. Leaves of three let them be.