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Comment by Growling Bear on February 8, 2010 at 12:22pm

Saturday I saw three bucks and my first buck this season with only one antler. Also, one of them was the cow horn I mentioned in an earlier post. I got a really good look at him this time and he is probably older than the 1.5-2 years I thought he was. He was a big boy. I think he is just a genetic anomaly. Time to start roaming the woods for antlers! Around here, anyway.

Comment by Daniel P. Hansche on February 2, 2010 at 4:48am

A call for support from fellow Kamanas:

I'm a Kamana graduate, which was my primary sources for nature connection & green values. My fiance and I are in the Top 5 (out of 50) in a contest to win a free Green Wedding. We're hoping wilderness awareness folks will support this cause by voting online at the link below. It only takes 10 seconds, so please pass it on if you like what you see. Voting ends February 9th.

http://www.greenweddinggiveaway.com/index-2.html

Please vote for people who are making a difference for the environment. We're environmental educators at White Pine Programs.

Thanks so much for reading, voting, & passing it on.

Dan Hansche
Senior Instructor
White Pine Programs

Comment by Savannagramma on January 31, 2010 at 1:50pm

This is an extremely mild touch of poison ivy. When I was 17 I had huge welts all over and it was hell. I am so thankful that since I have lived here - this is the worst I've had it. contained in one area -- minor.

Comment by Kate Guenther on January 31, 2010 at 1:23pm

When I first got my goats 7 years ago, they ate the brambles in the pasture first and poison ivy seemed to be their second favorite. Now, though, they seem not to eat the PI that grows like a ground cover and it is thick in their pasture again. I have never gotten poison ivy transferred from their fur, perhaps because it is very low and their don't roll in it. I think if a taller PI plant were to grow, they might still eat it.

Comment by Savannagramma on January 31, 2010 at 6:12am

Oh by the way -- I have heard/ read that certain goats will eat poison ivy. I have been tempted to get a goat or 2 to eat up the stuff along the edge of our woods. I'd have to be careful about touching the goat once its been in the stuff tho'.

Australia - James here is a close up of poison ivy. It causes the skin to break out in fluid filled blisters which itches hellishly.-

Comment by Savannagramma on January 31, 2010 at 6:01am

Oh yes - I avoid Poison Ivy at all times of the year. A few Springs ago, I was clearing brambles and weeds out from under a dead oak we had felled to make more room for our orchard and unwittingly some of the "roots" I pulled up were poison ivy so I got a touch of it on my wrist where the garden gloves end and the sleeves didn't quite cover. This was in March, I think so there were no tell-tale "leaves of 3". I've also read that the oil can be dormant on surfaces for something like 5-10 years after the plant is dead, even. I would never EVER tempt fate by eating it - your throat could close up!
I had Poison Ivy terribly bad when I was 17 -after visit to a forest preserve with my boyfriend - I think we unwittingly laid our picnic blanket down in a patch of it. How stupid was that? I made sure that was one of the 1st things my grandson learned to ID. anyway - the couple of times I have encountered it here has been very minor in comparison to back then, Thank God! Just a few little bumps on my wrist.
I am in zone 5b NW IN

Comment by Growling Bear on January 29, 2010 at 1:32pm

Looking out my kitchen window this morning I saw a young buck chowing on some Virginia Pine cones at the forest edge, still had both antlers. He was a two point. Some of his older cousins were playing hard behind the tree-line, racing back and forth but not coming into view. He's the first buck I've seen (and could verify) since December.I started seeing the does and fawns again regularly last weekend.

Comment by Growling Bear on January 26, 2010 at 12:47pm

Hey Savannagramma, I don't know where you are but here in the great state of North Carolina, I can usually find some live poison Ivy all year long. In warm weather there are poison ivy gardens, you'd think it was an ornamental. Luckily, it's not quite as thick in the woods. There are the woolly vines running up trees sprouting it everywhere but not too much on the ground. You might be OK, once you find a safe transitional spot. I think I see the most poison ivy right at the edge of the woods, along with blackberry and greenbrier!

Comment by Growling Bear on January 26, 2010 at 12:23pm

You eat it? Far out. I'd be careful about doing it in the spring and summer when the leaves are full of sap. What Poison Ivy does on the outside, it can do on the inside. Also, if your body doesn't break down the itchy owie before you expel it, well, that would be another horror story in itself.

Maybe the small leaves have a small amount of sap, rendering this possible?

Comment by Sandy on January 23, 2010 at 12:55pm

Anyone know anything more than anecdotal about eating PI to de-sensitize yourself?

An acquaintance who knows a lot about plants told me that the Native Americans who lived in the Ozarks used to eat very small PI leaves. I'm not terribly allergic, so I tried it. Whenever I find a leaf smaller than about a centimeter across, I eat it. I still try hard to avoid the plant, so I don't come in contact very often, but I have noticed this: Now I get one blister that itches for about a day and then goes away--just enough itching to let me know I touched it. In the past, I'd get several blisters that would itch for several days.

Eating PI is probably dangerous for some people, so make your own thoughtful choice. I'm hoping someone knows more about this than me.

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