- Bloodsucking leeches use microscopic teeth to break the skin of their host and secrete an anti-clotting enzyme into the wound to keep the blood flowing.
- Healers have used leeches for thousands of years for their ability to keep blood from clotting. The anti-coagulant in leech saliva prevents blood clots better than most pharmaceuticals. Today, leeches are used during some surgical reattachments of amputated limbs.
- The word leech is thought to be a derivative of laece, the Old English term for physician.
- Leeches are distinct among invertebrates in that some species of leech will nurture their offspring.
- When a leech clamps onto a host, it will stay attached until it fills up. A leech can ingest enough blood to expand its body size by a factor of 11.
- Salting and burning a bloodsucker are effective means of removal, but they may cause the leech to barf up its meal. A leech’s stomach bacteria can infect the wound. Menthol-based heat rubs are the safest way to remove a leech.
- A separate order of worm-like leeches, common in freshwater, don’t have teeth or a love for blood.
- In 1851, Dr. George Merryweather introduced the Tempest Prognosticator, a barometer using leeches housed in small bottles. He claimed that when a storm approached, the leeches became agitated and tried to climb out of the bottles, triggering a small hammer to strike a bell. The British Navy bought none.
- Robin Leach was the host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, a show profiling the lives of rich bankers, lawyers and politicians, a whole different kind of bloodsucker.
This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2007 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’ print and digital editions here.
