Starting Field Work - Practical Boundary Surveying - page 148

Fig. 10.12 Poison Ivy
Members of the survey crew must become well acquainted with plant spe-
cies. Sometimes old deeds call for a certain type of tree as a boundary corner
so a surveyor must be able to identify it.
Poison oak also has three leaves similar to poison ivy. Poison sumac is a woody
shrub which may have yellow berries. Not everyone is allergic but most people
can become allergic at any time even if not previously allergic—it is a matter of
the amount of exposure. Wearing long sleeves, long pants, boots and gloves will
help prevent contact. Indirect contact such as touching a machete or brush cutter
that has been in contact with the plants is also likely to cause a reaction. So will
touching clothing that has been exposed. Surveyors and others who walk in the
woods should learn to identify these plants before inadvertently touching one of
them and becoming infected.
In New England, when surveying along stone walls there is a temptation to
run survey lines directly over the wall. There is more work involved in tree and
brush cutting if survey lines are run alongside the walls. Walking on stone walls is
very risky, particularly when the walls are made from rounded field stones which
tend to be loose and roll underfoot. Balancing on the walls is difficult enough, but
the real hazard comes from the wall collapsing. Many of the walls have been in
place for 200 years on ground subject to continual freezing and thawing which