Invasion Of The Leeches

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

It was recently reported that Japanese leeches have been making their way from the mountains to urban areas, and are causing a fair bit of discomfort for the residents.

These land leeches, called “yamabiru”, are now a problem in 29 of the 47 prefectures in Japan causing swelling and itching in their victims.

Although it’s great that parts of the land have been successfully reforested, rural population has been decreasing, and deer and boar populations have greatly increased, and these leeches latch onto these unknowing animals, which come closer and closer to urban areas.

The Japanese people are discovering leeches in their socks, after they have grown 5-10 times larger from sucking their blood. These leeches are unusual from water leeches in that people are unaware they have been bitten until it starts getting uncomfortable from growing larger in their shoes. Their blood-soaked feet frighten and surprise them.

The problem is that when leeches bite, they have an anticoagulant in their saliva, which keeps the blood from clotting, so they can suck it. When they release themselves from their prey, often the wound will bleed for quite some time due to this anticoagulant.

Residents are attempting to cut down trees and keep grass mowed to discourage these leeches from coming too close, as they like shady, damp areas best.

To read more on this story: Leech invasion makes residents see red

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Genus: Macrobdella

All leeches are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive organs, and they can also all carry eggs.

My Story:
When I lived and traveled in Australia, during my backpacking journey, I took a 3 day tour in Kakadu National Park, and was “attacked” by a leech on my lower leg while trekking through the bush. I noticed it when we were coming out of the bush, and it was about 2″ long and looking pretty succulent…Yuk! I was horrified and one of the British backpacker that was with the group got it off of me…

However, the hole bled for 3-4 hrs after, so I had a stream of blood running down my leg…Unbelievable. So, I can attest to the fact that it kept bleeding, was itchy and swelled up.

What Do You Do If You’re Bitten?
It is advisable to use a fingernail to detach the leech’s suction. Other traditionally known ways to detach a leech are using an open flame, cigarette, salt, sodas, lemon juice, vinegar or alcohol. These “traditional” methods may cause the leech to regurgitate it’s stomach contents back into the wound, which may carry disease, and cause an infection and worse swelling and bleeding. So, use the fingernail technique people!

After removing the leech, make sure you wash the wound with soap and water, and bandage it up because it will bleed for a while.

However, for centuries, leeches have been used medicinally for bloodletting. Amazing idea. Little villains or medical helpers? It’s all relative…

I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Exotic Animal Lover.

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. To find out more about how leeches are used medicinally, check out this fantastic book on it:

Medicinal Leech Therapy

Technorati Tags: leech, leeches, Japanese leech, leech invasion, yamabiru, leech therapy

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