Between the neighbors and us, my playground growing up was about 500 acres of woodland. It came complete with vine swings, algae infested slides into pools of water, brooks, creeks, rivers, swamps, ponds, marshland, hollow trees to hide in, a quicksand pit (that was fun!), 3 artesian wells, and enough wild food to keep us in the woods from sun up to sun down. In all those years, I only almost burned down the place ONCE.
There was enough poison ivy, oak, sumac to choke an elephant, and I was shown many times where a few were, so I just avoided it. I never got a rash of any kind that wasn't heat related. My sister did though, hehehe.
That whole "rule" of three leaves let it be is just hogwash in my book. I can take you out and show you hundreds of leaves of three that are completely harmless. It should say, Leaves of Three, if it's poison Ivy, or oak, leave it be. That'd be more accurate. Poison sumac has leaves down the sides. I think that whole saying started with a lazy teacher. All it does, really, is give clovers a bad rep. I rank that "rule" right up there with I before E except after C. That's a really weird rule, huh?
In case you missed it, let me repeat it. I before E except after C. That's a really
weird rule, huh?
I used to pet the wildlife that would come to me, like squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, skunks, etc. I gave the wildlife that could put a serious hurt on me a wide berth, like fox, deer, geese, swans, etc... Oh, and that one crazy horse my neighbor owned! Animals, for the most part, are more scared of you than you are of them.
It was fun, and I survived, even though I ran with scissors, jumped out of trees, slid down large dams, rode my bike without a helmet, and talked to strangers.
Oh, and my seatbelt was my parents arm coming across my chest. Admit it, we've all been there.