On Sat, 11 May 2013 09:14:02 -0400, Norminn wrote:

Contact is touching, eating or breathing - think poison ivy.

Hmmm... I have had some experience with chainsawing poison oak,
having tunneled through a jungle of the stuff for about 500
linear feet on a steep hillside (cutting a swath about 3 feet
wide, leaving overhanging vines about a foot above eye level).

I've also trimmed the 300 feet of oleander, about two years
ago, (not very successfully though, due to the top of the
bush being too high and wide for my puny 20" trimmer).

Having said what my experience level is, I wouldn't put them
on the same threat level ...

But maybe I'm missing something important.