Starting in the American South, moving northwards, poison ivy will start to turn green, as well as bright red, when the leaves pop out.

But before it does that, this photos shows a common sight: a tree with huge 3 inch poison ivy vines, plus some tiny 1/4 inch vines, plus a few dry berries from last year.

As with all poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, this infestation won’t bother you at all –  if you don’t mess with it.

But if you were to cut that tree down, including chain sawing through those thick vines, you would unleash gobs of urushiol oil and the chain saw would toss that oil everywhere. 

And everyone involved could end up with the kind of nightmare rash that would land them in the Skin Rash Hall of Fame.

Recognize those hairy vines!