Just a couple of other ideas...
Did you know that one of a goats favorite foods is poison ivy? One year we had the kids walk the goats and let them work on eating it along the trail. They really did like it... that is where the old farmer's saying, "never kiss a goat on the lips" comes from.
We have used chemicals and they have knocked it back but you have to keep with it and it can get expensive.
Information on poison ivy reactions that might help you once people are exposed to it...
From what we have learned about 85% of us react in some way to poison ivy, but only about 5-10% of those react very badly...the rest might get a itchy spot but never break out at all. We also have found the information that when the Urushiol Oil gets on your skin it remains on the surface for about 15-20 minutes. In this time it can be washed off and we found one lone report that said water can actually make it inert. If you don't wash it off within 15-20 minutes if goes down into your skin and binds to your cells and causes havoc and cannot be washed off. Also be aware that the oil can be effective for many years so avoid dead vines or tools you have exposed to it.
When we were kids we were told not to scratch it because we would spread it. It turns out that the puss that comes out of the blisters is not contagious, and that liquid cannot spread it. The reason it looks like it spreads is that the oil is thickest where the oil first got on you, and thiner where you might have spread the oil to. It also depends on how tough the skin is in the area you got it on. The reaction to the oil happens first where you got the most on you or the most delicate areas and later for the other spots. People can react within hours, but most tend to react several days later.
We have had great success with Zanfelt (http://www.zanfel.com/)
It really does work in 30 seconds, but you must apply it in exactly the way they tell you. We have treated about 10 people and none of them came back for a second treatment that is allowed for. We have used it on kids with full blown rashes that came with them from other camps to those that we thought "just might be poison ivy". The only one it did not work for is a fellow in our kitchen who is highly allergic. It is expensive, but you use just a squirt only once per person so it last a long time and has been well worth it to us.
Hope this helps... please share information with me that could sharpen up this information. Thanks Jill Laidlaw, YWCA Camp Cavell.[/size][size:14pt][/b][b]
