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| Originally Posted by Freeflow Fancy Stoney on Sat? 
Thanks for the info, I'm glad I didn't get the leach on my hand like I did the thing with legs. None of the group smoke, and I'm sure it would have gone out under water anyway.
Is there a good website for a look at the larvae of various stuff so I can see what it as? |
I wouldn't worry too much about em in England - the only one there that bites humans is the Medicinal Leech and I understand that these are now extremely rare, this being a result, initially, of over collecting in the 19th C and latterly, through loss of habitat. There's unlikely to be anything you'll see in Stoney that will bother you, they are more likely to be predatory, like Horse Leeches or else the sort of thing that parasitises fish, water birds etc.
Interestingly, because Australian Leeches are so tough (they have to be to survive in a place that's in drought for months at a time), there was a thriving export industry to the UK in the olden days. Now it's taken off again as they are starting to use them in wound treatments etc. They will go over a year between meals too, so easy to store.
And it's no big deal, a leech bite is completely painless, it's just the "yuck" factor that horrifies people; although the bite does itch a bit a few days later and some people do develop allergies after many bites. The worst thing is the mess, as you bleed for quitre a while and it won't coagulate, meaning it gets everywhere and on everything, which is pretty disgusting.
(so don't let it put you off Aus)
Richard M