Hey Kids,
There are some plants that cause a skin rash that you should stay away from. Take a look at this picture. You can tell by looking at the leaves which plants are poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac. Poison oak and poison ivy both have three leaves. The poison oak leaves aren’t nearly as pointed as the poison ivy leaves. The poison sumac grows out differently with many leaves.
Be on the lookout for these because all three can really make you itch and develop a skin rash.
Poison ivy is not contagious and cannot be transferred from one person to another. However, if poison ivy juices get on clothing and that clothing comes in contact with someone’s skin they definitely can develop an irritating skin rash. People have been known to get poison ivy skin rashes from clothing as much as a year after the clothing came into contact with the poison ivy.
So the next time you come in from the woods, don’t just shower; make sure to wash your clothes right away to get rid of any poison ivy juices. Wash off your shoes, too since it’s likely your shoes would have gone through the poison ivy plants.
Be careful and have a TURTLE-riffic day!
–––Alfred Z. Turtle
