Very much appreciated, thank you! I will make sure that's out of his reach, and if he expresses too much curiousity in it, I'll have to give it away, I guess. Sad, because I've had it for quite awhile! I have two other main varieties of plants in the house, one palm-like plant and two "mini-trees". Would you be able to verify the names of them for me? I'm 99% they're fine for cats, but need to make sure. Here are the links to the respective images: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_nx7isMSRw4s/Snm55G3tnGI/AAAAAAAAACY/slb2IGXtGnI/s512/DSC01320.JPG http://lh3.ggpht.com/_nx7isMSRw4s/Snm55XKARCI/AAAAAAAAACc/w-A-1h5j9Ms/s512/DSC01322.JPG

We had a difficult time removing ivy (in fact, we're still in the process). We hired people to bring in a Kubota and rip out as much as possible. Then, we had to cut the large pieces with a machete and spray RoundUp into the cuts (don't bother spraying the leaves, the waxiness protects them). If you decide to spray instead of rip it up, you need to damage the leaves with a weedwacker before spraying or it will not penetrate. You might not have to hire someone, a pickaxe/shovel would work well. We had about 1/2 acre of the stuff and we're still removing it from our ancient maples. The elderly gentleman next door says that no one did anything with the ivy for at least 60 years. That being said, it was definitely worth it. We found so much debris in the post-ivy areas that could have hurt our dogs or children (broken glass, asbestos tile, etc.). Now there's so much more room to run around. Good luck and happy ivy hunting!

My feeling is the same as Smivies, though I have seen climbing PI here and I have seen vines other than PI with aerial roots. Though a bit out of focus, the smaller vines look more like Virginia creeper/Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Be aware that some folks react to Virginia creeper as well as to PI, so treat both with respect. Once leaves emerge, you can repost to get a firm ID.

It could be mites (plant lice), especially because they love to hide between your fingers. Does it itch worse at night? Mites are more active at night. One year, we made a scarecrow costume for my son and stuff dead grass up around his ankles and wrists. The next day, he was covered with a horrible rash halfway up his arms and legs. The doctor took a scraping and said it was plant lice, that they overwinter on dead grass. He gave us some permethrin cream and it cleared it right up, but we never did THAT again. Put some vaseline all over the rash in case it is mites. It will smother them. You can get RID for lice and rub that on those spots. Also, virgin coconut oil is very good at killing them, if you want to stay natural. I had a horrible itch on my arms once that was so painful at night that I had to put icepacks on my arms to get to sleep. I started rubbing coconut oil on my arms every night, and within a week, it was gone and has never come back.