The Blood Sucker, Leech, in Tropical Rainforest,
Borneo, Malaysia
One of the little issues of trekking in the rainforest, is really those
pesky little leeches. In Malaysia, generally there are three types; the
dark brown ground based common leech, the
green-reddish-with-yellow-streaks-sticking-under-the-leaf-type (Tiger
Leech), and the Kinabalu Giant red leech (found in Borneo).
The leeches in the rainforest are particularly "vicious" and really
blood-thirsty. As you make your way in the wet rainforest trail, you
will realise and learn how just how blood-thirsty they are. There are
leeches just about everywhere, somersaulting and quivering in all
direction. Leeches have heat-seeking sensors that are pretty perked up
and sensitive to human body heat. If you are standing still to take a
breather, you would find at least two or three leeches somersaulting up
your pants, or dropping themselves from the overhanging leaves (sound
scary).
Leeches will crawl into places of maximum warmth before biting. The
ankles are the most common places for bites since the leeches generally
are quite low when you pick them up, and they can also bite through the
loose weave sock material. Leeches are inchworm-sized creatures that
stay on low lying bushes and the forest floor waiting for unsuspecting
warm blooded creatures to pass by. They then latch on for a meal of
blood, letting go when they are fully engorged.
What is a Leech?
There are two types of leeches - neither of which is poisonous or carry
disease. You cannot feel when brown leeches bite as they inject a kind
of anesthetic when they attach. The tiger leech has a small bite that
you can feel. Both inject an anti-coagulant, so the blood continues to
flow for some time after the leech drops off. Unlike the old wives tale,
you can pull leeches off in mid-feed in a panic, although it is easier
to nonchalantly roll it around until it lets go, and then flick it off.
Leeches are responsive to light and mechanical stimuli. First, they can
detect movement. So if you brush against a tree and tread heavily they
will feel, rather than hear, you coming. Secondly, they can detect you
by your body temperature. They have heat receptors. Leeches easily dry
out and go into a torpid state if they do. But add water and they will
rapidly spring into action.
Leeches are clitellate when breeding and are derived from some
oligochaete ancestor. They attach to their hosts and remain there until
they become full, at which point they fall off to digest. Leeches'
bodies are composed of 34 segments. They all have a ventral sucker
formed from the last six segments of their body, which is used to
connect to a host for feeding. They use a combination of mucus and
suction (caused by concentric muscles in those six segments) to stay
attached.
To counter this problem.
If you find a leech attached to your body the first thing to do is don't
panic! The only thing a leech does is steal a tiny bit of your blood,
look revolting and make a bit of a bloody mess. You can simply wait till
it drops off, thereby avoiding touching the slimy thing. After all, once
it is attached it makes no difference when you remove it. You can just
physically pull it off but then it may leave its mouthparts embedded in
the skin potentially leading to infection. (Although this can happen
anyway.) Lastly, you can resort to chemical means - anything that the
leech won't like such as vinegar, lemon juice, salt or tiger balm (a
type of ointment).
Over the years and after many bites some people develop a bit of a
reaction to leech bites and the itching can drive you crazy. Also, the
potential for infection should not be underestimated; this can be a real
problem in the tropics especially as most bites will occur around the
ankle area where shoes and socks tend to rub.
Leech
proof socks are the best way of denying access to your bare skin.
(Most leeches can easily tunnel through the weave of your socks.)
Leeches (Land Leeches) are found only in the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia( Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
Papua New Guinea,Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos Borneo, etc), Wallace (group of
Indonesian islands separated by deep water from the
Asian and
Australian
continental shelves), Australia (North
Australia near Queensland rainforest and down south in Victoria), Melanesia (Those
small Island near
Papua, Indonesia and north Australia) , Madagascar, India and the Seychelles.
The best answer to landed leeches problem is to wear anti-leech-socks: A self-made
sock of tightly woven and stitched cotton or other fabric would do if
the sock is long enough to get to just under your knees and held by a
strap. Leeches will almost always try to find the shortest way to a
place that is body-warm and therefore get trapped between your leech
sock and your boot. If they are really a pest you can improve this by a
ring of insect repellent around your
leech
proof socks
just above the place were they might enter your boot. Of course, the
socks won't make you 100% immune to the problem as the leeches will also
climb on to you from overhanging vegetation and can attack you around
the waist or the neck as well, but this extra protection will get rid
most of the leech from the ground.
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Another good way is periodically stop and check for leeches and this way
you can flick them off before they start feeding. Repellent isn't very
effective, but if sprayed before your walk might help a bit.
Endemic Leech Proof Socks Wearing Instructions:
How to treat the bite:
The only way to stop the bleeding is to apply pressure at the point and
wait. There is a strong possibility that the bite will start to itch
after a day or so and if you have a few bites around the ankle this can
become a problem. Again, the remedy can be tiger balm. If it is really
bad, it might be necessary to use an antihistamine. Of course, if the
bites become infected then it's a whole different story and you will
need to consult a doctor.
* Please note that international
shipping will take up to 17 days
(depends on the country you stay),
if you are in urgent to have it, we may arrange to send
it to your travel
destination. Else, fast shipping with extra charges (4-5 days delivery). For buy 3 get 1 promotion, please pay
price for 3, and we will send you 4 pairs.
