oh no! itchy sounthern californians!

[DahliaTate]

I am a spankin'-new geocacher from the Los Angeles area and have noticed something... a number of folks have cleverly hidden caches in large friendly clusters of branches.. now that it is starting to warm up, the clusters have begun to leaf out... and the y are POISON OAK!!! AH!!!

 

if you planted a cache in southern cali between nov. and feb. you should prolly go check it to see if it is surrounded by the demon weed.

 

me boyfriend/caching buddy gets all oozy when he even stands downwind of the stuff. not cute.

 

here is a site with lots of pictures of the horrible stuff. poison oak picsr

[Robereno]

Of course poisonous plants vary with location but here, East San Diego County, it’s Poison Oak. It’s everywhere, gets on your boots, moves to your hands then gets on your face, then you spread it to your wife & kids. I’ve had infections that have lasted well over a month. Even when the dog runs through the stuff it can be spread to you off his fur. I've seen poison oak on just about every cache hunt I've done. Here's another link http://www.life-assist.com/plantguide.html

 

CreekBed Geocache

[husqui]

Yup, I've been through quite a few hunts here in OC where there was poison oak about. Good thing me and the dogs have come through unscathed.

 

Until now. I went for a hike along Tijeras Creek on Saturday. Wasn't even on a cache hunt but I was seeking out places to hide a cache and also checked on a cache that I had previously found. I know I didn't come into contact with any poison oak that day.

 

But apparently, one or both of the furry brats did. Come Sunday night, my legs started itching. By Monday night, they were itching up a storm. And now here I sit with red, itchy rashes all over my legs. I'm quite sure that I got it from one of my dogs as they love to jump up and snuggle on the couch specially during the cold, rainy Sunday night that we just had.

 

Ah, the perils of geocaching......

[+LarsThorwald]

Wait 'till you start thinking about TICKS!

 

Charlie

 

"One should never begin a journey by heading in the wrong direction..."

[husqui]

quote:

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Originally posted by LarsThorwald:

Wait 'till you start thinking about TICKS!

 

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Trust me, we've had MORE than our fair share. A tick puller, alcohol (other than beer), and matches are part of our household "search and destroy" kit.

[+JeeperJohn]

I'll take a tick any ol' day over a good case of poison oak. I am finally getting over a 4 week old encounter with that evil plant. I had wandered through a leafless patch of the stuff last month. I can usually find any ticks before they attach themselves but even the ones I miss don't cause near the suffering. However, I have never had to deal with Lyme desease. Anybody out there gone through that experience?