![]() Try flicking the leech or prodding with your fingernail. Once you have dislodged the oral sucker, quickly detach the posterior (rear) sucker (the fat end of the leech).Using your fingernail, push the sucker sideways away from your skin. Gently but firmly slide your finger toward the wound where the leech is feeding.Put your finger on your skin adjacent to the oral sucker.Identify the anterior (oral) sucker which will be found at the small end of the leech.If you are bitten by a leech and are compelled to remove it before it has had its full (leeches drop off on their own when they are done feeding), you can do so by following these steps: Leeches use an anticoagulant when they bite to facilitate the flow of blood from the wound. Leech bites do not hurt - since they release an anaesthetic when they sink their teeth into your skin - but they do bleed profusely. Do not get overly concerned about a leech attack - they carry no disease and there is low risk of causing significant blood loss. ![]() The best protection against leeches is covering up and using insect repellent on clothing, although they are extremely persistent and invariably if you spend enough tromping around in the forest you will get leeched. The single feeding will be enough to sustain a leech for several months. Terrestrial leeches are generally small (although they can get quite huge in some parts of the world) but will gorge themselves during a meal, gaining up to ten times their weight. In leech-rich areas, if you stand still for a few minutes, you'll see leeches dropping from vegetation and moving toward you like inchworms. They find their prey (you and other warm-blooded animals) by odor and sound vibrations. Unlike leeches in other parts of the world, rainforest leeches live in leaf litter and vegetation - they are not aquatic. Leeches are common in rainforests of Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Southeast Asia.
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