Leeches

[Macca81]

one thing in favor of WA.... never seen one leech in 7 years here now! he he (gloat)
dare to click here?!

thats so cool!

[Macca81]

two recommended leech recipes are....

Just 2 minutes ago, seen on 'Heston's Feast' on SBS TV: - Heston Blumenthal takes a number of leeches, allows them to gorge on a sausage of goose blood immersed in liquid until 4 or 5 times their size - and then frys them up and eats them.
Or at least eats one .
Whilst not repulsed, he was unimpressed with the taste, describing it as "goose blood, enclosed in a thin casing of leech"

He goes on to make various other blood-based dishes with a vampiric theme.

just watched it on the sbs website, brilliant! lol

[pshute]

I recently had my first leech encounter, in SE Qld. Not so bad, only a couple on my wrists and ankles. But what did throw me a bit was the number of them that attached themselves to the soles of my boots in between the tread, and tried to come along for the flight home.

I only checked the edges of my boots, and thinking they were ok, went into the terminal. Soon after sitting down, I noticed a ring of leeches wriggling away from me across the tiles. I found them really hard to squash on the smooth tiles, they kept reinflating and starting to wriggle again. After subduing about 10, I took off a boot for a look. There were about 10 more hiding underneath, and they were quite firmly attached. I went to the toilets and ran hot soapy water over them, and they fell off easily and I washed them down the drain.

Is this the normal thing? It's as if they thought the rubber was alive and worth hanging onto. And would the hot water have killed them? I'd hate to think they'd later climbed out of the drain and wriggled out of the basin. Or got a free ride to the local sewerage plant and established a population there (as if there wouldn't be one already).

[Cocksy_86]

On the drive back from the Illinbah Circuit at Binna Burra, we were alittle distraught from the hundreds-of-leeches-surrounding-us-every-time-we-stopped-for-a-rest experience. Chelle was like a cat on a hot tin roof. She kept freaking out over every little itch or movement across her skin. Even though we had gotten all the leeches off me we didn't think to recheck our thongs when getting back in the car. The whole trip back there was one playing with her toes. She kept ignoring it thinking she was just being stupid. Mate, the scream nearly shattered car windows when a fat, plump, cold leech dropped between her toes. Classic

To answer your question, Yes, it's normal. I usually bring back a few hiding in my backpack and the ones intertwined with my laces.

[juju]

Oscar Wilde said that the best way to be rid of temptation is to yield to it, so too for leaches. Though sometimes impractical, naked is the way to go, that way you can see the little blighters and flick them off! My son often walks barefoot and doesn't get half as many as I do...

[crockle]

naked is the way to go...

Hmmm ...

[Liamy77]

naked is the way to go...

Hmmm ...

you wouldn't wanna make a mistake burnin off leeches would ya!?

[north-north-west]

I recently had my first leech encounter, in SE Qld. Not so bad, only a couple on my wrists and ankles. But what did throw me a bit was the number of them that attached themselves to the soles of my boots in between the tread, and tried to come along for the flight home.

I only checked the edges of my boots, and thinking they were ok, went into the terminal. Soon after sitting down, I noticed a ring of leeches wriggling away from me across the tiles. I found them really hard to squash on the smooth tiles, they kept reinflating and starting to wriggle again. After subduing about 10, I took off a boot for a look. There were about 10 more hiding underneath, and they were quite firmly attached. I went to the toilets and ran hot soapy water over them, and they fell off easily and I washed them down the drain.

Sorry, but this has me in stitches. It's Pythonesque, the thought of someone doing a flamenco on the airport tiles trying to eliminate a mass of indestructible leeches.

[Sibbo]

Try a bit of soft soap from a soggy cake of bathroom soap on your ankles .It doesn't always work but they usually don't like the taste .

[DanH]

Rid rings!!

just run a bit of Rid (or similiar) in a ring around the tops of your boots, socks, just below the knee and another near your short bottoms... viola! you can watch the little buggers try and get over the barrier but don't... did a stint in Bhutan recently and the leeches there are amazing but never got sucked on once!!

[Cocksy_86]

I found that aeroguard only worked when used on skin. It didn't really work on my shoes, socks or gaiters. Maybe rid has something else in it that aeroguard doesn't.

[flyfisher]

BUSHMAN....Thats the stuff yer want. Rings round the boots, gaiters and knees and no problems.

The one I use is BUSHMAN PLUS and it also contains sunscreen, though I dont use it as sun protection, and is 80% deet which is ok if not used constantly.

ff

[tasadam]

http://www.bushman-repellent.com/
That's the stuff - the green tube, applies like sunscreen. Can't beat it for leech protection as others have said. Just don't get it on yer gonads, it burns a bit.

[walkinTas]

I was interested to read the leeches don't like talcum powder. Much friendly on the gonads!

Bushman's is an excellent leech block, but I can't recommend it as a sun block.

[tas-man]

one thing in favor of WA.... never seen one leech in 7 years here now! he he (gloat)
dare to click here?!

Now that's what I would call a real SUCKER!

[roysta]

Are these pests encountered anywhere in the Western Arthurs?

[vagrom]

I've never heard of leeches "on high", though Taswegians may know better. There seem to be famous spots where these slithy toves are well known to gyre and gimbel in the wabe, but i'm pretty sure they're all at lower altitudes and possibly even associated with certain vegetation communities. And, as their main menu is going to be non-human, then home upon the ranges should see us safer.
Memories of Mayfield Flats and the Fourways make me wonder if they find the north a little more conducive to a healthy lifestyle. I've no idea if northern Tas. is that slightly more warmer than the south. Somewhere there must be a distribution map of the little suckers.
I've wondered if it's true that if you're travelling as a group, in single file, then you're safest up front as you set up the followers for a suprise when they next stop for a break.

[juju]

I woke up to find a leech - in my eye! aaarrgghhh!!! in the morning - in the tent (must've come to bed with me) at Lake Fortuna, but that was in 1984. It was the only time (that I remember) up there. I do remember breaking out in huge red lumps all over my face from the midges though...

[optdyl]

Bushman's is an excellent leech block

Bushman's is a fantastic insect repellant. I always using while travelling in malaria prone areas; however, if your bottle leaks it can do some pretty decent damage to plastics... especially if it has a high DEET content.

dyl

[Leppy]

The itch... ahh the the itch. I had two about the size of pedro's 'beauty' sucking on my leg a few weeks back after a sunday moring scamper in the rain. I had not seen one for a while - it had been good!

[flatfoot]

Had a bushwalking club meeting last night. One member walked into the meeting late with this leech on his foot.

I captured some HD footage and created this dramatic video

http://vimeo.com/18390741

[Drifting]

I'm waiting for Larry Pt II- Larry Meets the Salt Shaker

[north-north-west]

Had a bushwalking club meeting last night. One member walked into the meeting late with this leech on his foot.

IMG_0704.JPG

That's a funny looking foot.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Had a bushwalking club meeting last night. One member walked into the meeting late with this leech on his foot.

IMG_0704.JPG

That's a funny looking foot.

Agreed. Very long toes.......

[pancake]

Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of soaking shoes (e.g. volleys, not 300$ scarpas!) in salt water for a period of time (few hours/overnight) ?
Have been meaning to do it for a while now, but it's the 2nd half of the experiment I'm not too keen on..

[vagrom]

You mean the pepper...?

[juju]

We get them that big up here in Bellingen...

[flatfoot]

I'm waiting for Larry Pt II- Larry Meets the Salt Shaker

Or Larry meets alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

[Liamy77]

Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of soaking shoes (e.g. volleys, not 300$ scarpas!) in salt water for a period of time (few hours/overnight) ?
Have been meaning to do it for a while now, but it's the 2nd half of the experiment I'm not too keen on..

sounds like a great way to rot your stitching to me!

[flyfisher]

Bushman spray is the go or their cream in a tube. Put a bit of that round your boots/ ankles/ legs and they won't come near you.