Anyone else been attacked by hordes of blood sucking leeches in Muzha?
I have been far and wide over this tiny island and hiked through various different types of terrain, but I have only come across the leeches in Muzha and Xin Dian. Today I had two of the devils sucking at my suckables - at the same time, no less.
Now I could understand being turned into a walking banquet near a river, but 1500 feet up a mountains is a different story.
Last week when I returned home there was one slithering across my bedroom floor. I’d just come from Muzha again.
[quote=“Dangermouse”]Anyone else been attacked by hordes of blood sucking leeches in Muzha?
I have been far and wide over this tiny island and hiked through various different types of terrain, but I have only come across the leeches in Muzha and Xin Dian. Today I had two of the devils sucking at my suckables - at the same time, no less.
Now I could understand being turned into a walking banquet near a river, but 1500 feet up a mountains is a different story.
Last week when I returned home there was one slithering across my bedroom floor. I’d just come from Muzha again.
Bastards.[/quote]
Where in Muzha? I hike in the mountains there all the time, often bushwack through grass and jungle, and have never been bitten by a leech. The only leech bite I have ever suffered was in Taian in Maioli County. And that was up around 1200m which I believe is prime leech country. There might be river leeches in Taiwan but I believe they are more common in the higher elevations. Almas John?
Jees, first it was the french sneering at you and now the leeches going for your blood. You’re just not a popular guy are you?
I’ve seen leeches in the river down at Bitan, and on a trail in the hills before you get to Wulai. I think they might be pretty localized – of three trails out of Fushan village up past Wulai, two are completely leech-free, in my experience, whereas the third will guarantee that your socks are covered in blood by the time you get back to the car.
Seen the little suckers in my garden and on the ground around shrubs at our courtyard entrance.
Beastly little devils but a part of the natural enviroment.
At least I’ve never seen the tree versions that hang in the foilage and drop/latch onto on warm blooded things that pass by and under.
Those pesky things can be quite unpleasant to discover merrily using ones bllod supplu as if it were a damn buffet.
Actually, I wonder if they aren’t seasonal. The only time I ever got one was in Sept/Oct too. And I remember Almas John describing his attacks after the 921 earthquake. Hmm.
I thought leeches only attacked if you were wading in water. Call me ignorant, but do these things jump from bushes and stuff? Or are you guys just putting us on? I haven’t gone wading in wild waters since I saw Stand by Me!!! :shocker:
I thought leeches only attacked if you were wading in water. Call me ignorant, but do these things jump from bushes and stuff? Or are you guys just putting us on? I haven’t gone wading in wild waters since I saw Stand by Me!!! :shocker:[/quote]
Nope, they live on the lush, wet foliage of Taiwan’s forests. Don’t know if they jump, but they certainly latch.
So what should I do if I find one latching onto me? I’m afraid if I pull at it, it would break off and the part already in my skin would bury deeper into me. I hear they’re afraid of salt. Should I bring salt on my future hikes to Muzha? I read that in some leech infested areas, hundreds of bloodsuckers can rain down on you from the trees along with the falling rain.
I don’t know if you need special special techniques for these Taiwanese Supremo No-Water-Necessary Leeches that Latch, but for the regular water dwelling North American sort, poking with a lit cigarette does the trick. I’ve also heard of the salt thing.
The leeches here are all very small and nothing at all to worry about.
I’ve had hundreds of them feed on me over the years, though never more than three or four at a time. I’ve occasionally had them on the hands and wrists, but most of them attach themselves to the ankles and calves. They don’t do any harm, don’t spread disease (as far as I’m aware), and I don’t begrudge them the few drops of blood they consume. The only slight nuisance is that after one has finished feeding and drops off, there can be quite a bit of blood dribbling out of the little wound while the anticoagulant remains effective. Many’s the time I’ve come back from frolicking in the mountain streams, sat at my desk working for a while, and stood up to find a small puddle of blood on the floor.
Some of the girls I’ve taken river-tracing and swimming with me over the years have been a bit (and sometimes very) squeamish about having leeches on them, in which case I remove the leeches quickly with a dab of salt (though I feel very mean hurting the poor little things when I see them squirm from the effect of the salt). I’ve learned that, if I spot a leech on the back of a girl’s leg or wherever she’s not likely to notice it herself, I just keep quiet about it, knowing that it’s more than likely to have dropped off before she gets home.
The funniest encounter with a leech was when a girl companion was surprised to find a patch of blood at the front of her knickers when it wasn’t that time of the month, and we laughed our heads off when we found she’d been bitten by a leech there (though she was a bit fazed at the thought of how it might possibly have crawled on up inside her if it hadn’t found a good feeding spot where it did).
I don’t know if a leech ever would invade any crevice in the nether regions, but I’ve heard a few stories here about doctors pulling leeches from people’s nostrils. That certainly wouldn’t be a pleasant experience!
This is from my dog’s sneezing thread posted by me…
[quote] Sneezing problem ended. Today while looking at my dog I noticed a long black wormish thing hanging out of her nose. I grabed it with my hand but it shot back in her nose. I took her to the vet…and luckily it decided to stick it’s head back out on it’s own while at the vet’s. So he used some plier thingies…and pulled it out.
She would have gotten it while swimming in the mountains with me. And it would have been very very small to begin with… and slowly as it’s size increases it begins to look for a new home and comes out on it’s own.
I kept the little guy…named him “Frank”. Plan on putting him in my roommate’s nose (while he’s sleeping) which has no feeling from his younger “party” days. I hope it will be happy there. [/quote]
Or are you guys just putting us on? I haven’t gone wading in wild waters since I saw Stand by Me!!! 
