Relocating for resiliency against long term collapse

[ZapThyCat]

between poison ivy and/or chiggers, it'll matter when they scratch themselves bloody with dirty hands & those wounds become infected.
doubt they'll have any topical antibiotics on hand or know how to use them.
not to mention they go crawling through poison ivy and it won't be long before 'raiding' someone is going to be the last thing on their mind.

Poison ivy isn't instant, it usually takes several hours for your body to absorb it. If you wash it off in the 30 minutes after exposure, you won't suffer any ill effects. Also, it, like ivy, typically climbs on trees, rather than grows in large patches, like poison oak.

Chiggers are another issue, and one that I really do dislike, but again, it's something that people have both learned to deal with as well as an issue that doesn't immediately come up, it's usually an overnight thing. And yes, they will cause your ankles to itch terribly... but it's an inconvenience rather than a major issue. Not to mention that places all over the US have poison ivy or chiggers, it's not limited to East Texas.

[Wil-c]

Poison ivy isn't instant, it usually takes several hours for your body to absorb it. If you wash it off in the 30 minutes after exposure, you won't suffer any ill effects. Also, it, like ivy, typically climbs on trees, rather than grows in large patches, like poison oak.

Chiggers are another issue, and one that I really do dislike, but again, it's something that people have both learned to deal with as well as an issue that doesn't immediately come up, it's usually an overnight thing. And yes, they will cause your ankles to itch terribly... but it's an inconvenience rather than a major issue. Not to mention that places all over the US have poison ivy or chiggers, it's not limited to East Texas.

true poison ivy can be stopped if washed off soon enough, however how many people, especially the type that would likely resort to violence or raiding know this? Or even know what it looks like? Damn few.
I'm cutting firewood while working in poison ivy right now. Get home and wash off carefully after I'm done cutting. So far so good. This stuff is on the ground in large patches, where I'm cutting are individual plants, not a large patch. Did have one tree fall into a large patch so that tree won't be used.

chiggers are everywhere, I have them in my back yard for the second time. Learned how to kill them, bacitrin ointment will suffocate the little monsters as will cortizone cream. Cortizone also bringing blessed relief from the itching.

Same thing though, how many of those types have this know-how?

Last year I ran into them in the back yard and didnt realize what it was, my feet & ankles were a bloody mess until I figured what was going on & how to deal with it.

[ZapThyCat]

true poison ivy & how to deal with it.

Whatever you do, don't burn it. You probably don't need to know this, but maybe someone else does.

If you burn it, it can get into your lungs, and if you thought itchy skin was bad, how about itchy swollen internal organs...

[Wil-c]

Whatever you do, don't burn it. You probably don't need to know this, but maybe someone else does.

If you burn it, it can get into your lungs, and if you thought itchy skin was bad, how about itchy swollen internal organs...

concur: that is why I left it where it fell. No way am I going to burn that wood in the fireplace, I'm aware of the dangers of woodsmoke contaminated with poison ivy.