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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> 
> Leaves of three let them be never did it for me. Blackberries have leaves of
> 

The 'leaves of three' is not for positive identification.  It is because over 
much of poison ivy's habitat there is a vine that looks similar, Virginia 
Creeper, that has five leaves.  Knowing what poison ivy looks like in 
general, 
vine with clusters of pointy leaves, many people panic when the find 
themselves 
entangled with Virginia Creeper.  Hence the rest of the saw:

"Leaves of three, let it be,
 Leaves of five, let it thrive."

However, better to avoid everything with three leaves than to get a nasty 
rash of poison ivy.  Like all such things, some people get more sensitive 
with 
repeated exposure but some people seem to become immune.  I used to get 
ghastly 
cases of it as a child, but I can handle it with bare hands now and it 
doesn't 
make a rash.

If anyone has the stuff on their property, get some goats.  Goats will eat it 
in preference to other things until it is killed off.

James