Poison oak removal at a house in Marin last week. Urushiol oils are the active allergins in this native shrub, and those found inside roots and stems are 50-100x more potent than oils on the surface. These oils are mostly invisible but stain black on fabric after cutting.
The stalk on this particular vine was about as big around as my arm, a rope and chainsaw were used to pull it down from a bay laurel tree. I uprooted it as well.
If not for immunity to this plant, a job like this would almost surely put me in the hospital. Unfortunately my helper who didn’t even touch it directly got a pretty solid rash.
As for the scorpion photo, we found them at a jobsite in Marin the day before.