(And in my 2014 novel Outrider, leech was the name given to power thieves illegally draining electricity from the Sunfield of New Las Vegas. Most species also have an posterior sucker (aka a rear sucker.) that also helps keep them in place while they suck. They then attach themselves to the flesh using a sticky mucous and suction and begin to suck blood out while releasing the anticoagulant hirudin into the bloodstream of their victim. The other 500 or so species live in fresh water, and it’s during a dip in river, lake, or stream that you’re most likely to come in contact with one of these monsters creatures.īloodsucking leeches have three blade-like teeth set into their jaws that they use to chew open a wound on host’s body. Pacific Press/Getty Imagesįewer than a hundred species of leeches live on land, with about a hundred living in salt water. Actually, to be fair, only about 75% of the known 700-odd species of leech suck the blood of a hapless host the remaining quarter of leech species are predatory, actually eating other animals.
They are close cousins of the benign earthworm, differing in that instead of the plant matter, fungus, and carrion worms eat, leeches feed on blood. Broadly speaking, they are a member of the annelid phylum of animals of segmented worm-like creatures. Leeches, to use the scientific term, are just awful. If you have the luxury of a few minutes, let’s first learn a bit about these creatures. If you currently have a leech adhering to your body, skip down a few hundred words and get that sumbitch off you.
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