Leeches!!! Ick!

[25Falcon]

We have a place in Moultonborough and have definitely noticed that the water has been much more murky this year with all the rain and stuff..however, at the end of August, for the first time ever, I pulled a leech off of my 8yo who had been swimming. It had actually latched onto her. So, now of course, I'm nervous to have the kids in the water, and they are nervous to be in it! Anyone else experience this? What could this be a sign of? We also thought we saw leeches on random sunfish we would catch off of the dock

[Onshore]

Ironically leeches are actually a sign of clean water. By clean I mean uncontaminated, not clear. I can't say for certain that their numbers are up or, if they are, why that is, but given that they are predated upon by fish perhaps the murkier water has made them harded to see and increased their survival rate. Just a theory...

[fmgate]

I pulled a leech off my leg back in 1990 or 1991 in the 19 Mile Bay area of Tuftonboro. I wouldn't be too concerned. They are common in NH. Probably because they are nocturnal, most people don't come into contact with them. My experience was the result of walking through a portion of the shoreline that had a good layer of the previous falls' leaves along the bottom.

Here is a link to a DES fact sheet on leeches in NH.

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commi...ents/bb-10.pdf

[onthebay]

Learned more about leeches than I though I ever would. Interesting that the DES is a proponent of cleaning up the shoreline. Wouln't this be in violation of the new shoreline protection act




"Leeches like to remain concealed under sticks, stones, and other debris. Cleaning a shoreline area of such material is another way to help reduce the number of leeches in an area."

[Pineedles]

Never had a leach in 54 years to me, or any other guest, or family member. Hoax, bored, or the one hit band the Standels. "Love That Dirty Water"?

[Mr. V]

I posted previously about pulling leeches off of myself and my girlfriend in mid-1970's, where West Alton marina cove meets the lake.

We were swimming on the beech when the little suckers made their move.

Yeech!

[Doyboy]

Leeches are pretty common in Lake Wentworth (I knew we had clean lake water). I probably see about 5 or 6 per year and just took one off my knee on labor day. It's probably the most itchy bite I can remember having.

[Argie's Wife]

Bring a salt shaker with you - they'll let go if you salt them and it's not supposed to itch as badly. (I don't know if this is true about the itching - it's been a long time since I've had one on me...) But they are very ick! - I'd scream like a little girl if I found one on me.

It's one of those things - like duck itch - that come with swimming in a lake.

(Although if anyone remembers watching the movie "Stand By Me", I'll never look at leaches the same again!)

[ApS]

In 53 years, I've found only one leech: it was less than ¾-inch long and skinny—skinnier than a caterpillar. Apparently, it hadn't attached yet, and nothing remained behind to indicate an attachment.

At ¾-inch long, is this the same leech species everyone else is talking about?

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

Bring a salt shaker with you - they'll let go if you salt them ..

This is the recomended method, although some folks like to tap them with a lit cigarette. Rubbing alchahol works too, as would hard liquor (externally applied! ).

"Pulling" them off is not recomended because mouth parts could be left behind. These remnants could result in serious infection. If the foreign material is not expelled your body will encyst it. Small cysts like this (lumps) are rarely a problem but may be confused later for more serious conditions.

After the leech releases clean the site with soap and/or first aid wash. Hand sanitizer should be safe too but it's going to sting... Squishing the leech for personal satisfaction is optional.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Kamper

This is the recomended method, although some folks like to tap them with a lit cigarette. Rubbing alchahol works too, as would hard liquor (externally applied! ).

"Pulling" them off is not recomended because mouth parts could be left behind. These remnants could result in serious infection. If the foreign material is not expelled your body will encyst it. Small cysts like this (lumps) are rarely a problem but may be confused later for more serious conditions.

After the leech releases clean the site with soap and/or first aid wash. Hand sanitizer should be safe too but it's going to sting... Squishing the leech for personal satisfaction is optional.

Any tips on how the leach should be prepared and cooked after it's been salted ? I hear them are mighty good eating ! Leeches, the other white meat ...


ps - What's the bag limit on leeches ?

[Argie's Wife]

Originally Posted by Mee-n-Mac

Any tips on how the leach should be prepared and cooked after it's been salted ? I hear them are mighty good eating ! Leeches, the other white meat ...


ps - What's the bag limit on leeches ?

They're usually called "clam strips", right?

[SAMIAM]

I don't recommend salt....we use Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic

[SIKSUKR]

Wouldn't using pepper work better?The leach would sneeze itself off your body.Theeeeennn marinate in your choice of marinade overnight and broil lightly.

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

They're usually called "clam strips", right?

So that's why my SEAWATCH frozen clam strips tasted so bad. ICK!

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by Mee-n-Mac

Any tips on how the leach should be prepared and cooked after it's been salted ? ...

Also known as White Mountain Escargot, can be sauted in white wine, garlic and butter. Best consumed after copius amounts of alchaholic beverages. Then wash it down with additional copius amounts of alchaholic beverages.

No bag limits.

[trfour]

Use a diesel fired salamander. Gets them suckers off pronto!

[braunbayboater]

I haven't seen any leaches but several times I have had multiple bites on me after walking in a silty area near our beach. Does anyone know what is biting me and how to get rid of the bugs? The bites are red like measles and itch even worse about 2 days after exposure.

[hoopdawg]

Leeches are amazingly tough little critters. They're pretty much nothing but elastic connective tissue with a gut tube running down the middle. Dissecting them is a real pain - it's like trying to cut through the rubber bands inside a golf ball. This is what allows them to stretch and distend so obscenely as they fill full of blood.

So cooking them would probably make this worse.

I would think that a marinade would be the best choice - cut them into small bite-size portions and bathe them overnight in some red wine, peppers and seasoning salt - maybe some jerk seasonings too. Bread them and sear them lightly, and serve them hot. They'll probably taste like pencil erasers, but have enough beer with them and they'll be fine.

or try this way >>>>>>



Ingredients

5-15 leeches (live ones)

Blood (From a human, preferably a live one)

Cooking

Boil in water. Use a gas stove from the most authentic results.

Portion Size

Leeches make a perfect hors d’oeuvre, a nice start to an evening of fine dining with any number of friends.

Preparation

1. Go to the Lake . Get your mitts on some leeches. Remember, it’s a wild animal, so hunting the beast is no task for inexperienced outdoorsman.

2. Get some blood. There are many ways to do this, but the best flavor comes from a fellow human being. But don’t settle for just anybody. A chain-smoking person one drunken step away from burnout, personal bankruptcy or any other of life’s little hardships usually owns a liver that gives the blood rushing through it a distinguished zest that won’t dissolve in the process of making the dish.

3. Let the leeches feast on the blood of the person of your choice, until the busy little hermaphrodites have eaten themselves into immobile obesity.

4. Boil the water, but keep an eye on the temperature. Remember, you are not meant to kill the natural aromas of the blood circulating inside the leech with the heat turned on too high.

5. When the liquid turns clear and the surface of the leech turns into scab-like shell, the dish is ready.

6. Serve without any side dishes. At the more fancier dinner parties, use lobster knife.

7. This dish of Leeches is perfect with a nice, healthy bottle of vodka.

And remember those lake-side walks ! Even though you and I might consider the leech just a cute little pet to feed, to play with and to love, you must remember, things are different under the waters-edge . So don’t bolt, animal lovers and other animists – when in the leech infested water !

Kick them munchies with luscious leeches!

[Argie's Wife]

Originally Posted by braunbayboater

I haven't seen any leaches but several times I have had multiple bites on me after walking in a silty area near our beach. Does anyone know what is biting me and how to get rid of the bugs? The bites are red like measles and itch even worse about 2 days after exposure.

Sorta sounds like duck itch, which can look like measles. Did it look anything like this?

[Newbiesaukee]

Hey, stop picking on leeches. They have a long and distinguished role in medical care. In fact, even today they are used to remove blood from certain kinds of traumatic injuries. They are specially raised in a clean environment and are, at least, free of serious germs. They produce an anticoagulant which is also being medically studied.

Besides, leeches steal the scene from Hepburn/Bogart in "The African Queen."

[Chickie]

Three cheers for leeches, Newbiesaukee! Thank you for pointing out the valuable role they play in the field of medicine.

[trfour]

Originally Posted by braunbayboater

I haven't seen any leaches but several times I have had multiple bites on me after walking in a silty area near our beach. Does anyone know what is biting me and how to get rid of the bugs? The bites are red like measles and itch even worse about 2 days after exposure.

Could be from these critters; http://www.medicinenet.com/chiggers_bites/article.htm

[Rattlesnake Gal]

There is a very distinctive pattern to a leech bite.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by braunbayboater

I haven't seen any leaches but several times I have had multiple bites on me after walking in a silty area near our beach. Does anyone know what is biting me and how to get rid of the bugs? The bites are red like measles and itch even worse about 2 days after exposure.

That sounds like my experience. On a particularly hot July day two years ago, I put a chair into the lake to keep cool—and to remain in my favorite outdoors place .

Within ten minutes, something bit me underwater—then twice again. I never saw what caused it, but the itching effects lasted for nearly ten days, even with the application of 0.1% Aristocort (triamcinolone acetonide) lotion.

(Maybe it was a particularly advanced stage of the "Duck Itch" cercaria critter?)

Nobody locally seems to know what it could have been: Duck Itch takes a few hours to assert itself, and this was an "instant" bite—and itched at least as badly as a duck itch bite.

I'm fairly certain they can't be "red-bugs" (chiggers), which are encountered when strolling through Florida's tall wet grasses.

In Florida, a lake near me is named "Red Bug Lake". (A good name for a lake if you don't want neighbors).

[The Eagle]

Say Guys and Gals,
Some of you all, made the headlines in today "Citizen!"

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...891/-1/CITIZEN

"The Eagle"

[Argie's Wife]

Leeches multiply; so do potential fixes

By GAIL OBER
gober@citizen.com
Wednesday, September 23, 2009


The bass love to eat them; some physicians still use them; and most people get really grossed out when they see them; but, if the local Weblogs are to be believed, there are more leeches than ever in Lake Winnipesaukee.

N.H. Department of Environmental Sciences limnologist Jody Conner said the good folks along the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee just may be onto something.

"There does appear to be more this year," said Connor, speaking from the northern Meredith end of Lake Winnipesaukee Monday afternoon.

Connor said the numbers of fresh-water marine life will vary but most have what he calls a boom-bust cycle. Like mussels, the leech population will top out and begin to dwindle as they compete for food. As their numbers dwindle, food becomes more plentiful and the cycle begins anew.

Most leeches are scavengers, feeding on snails, worms, fish eggs and aquatic animals, according to a publication by the DES. A small minority will take blood from warm-blooded mammals. The most common in New Hampshire's water are the northern bloodsucker.

Nocturnal by nature, Connor said leeches avoid any kind of sunlight or strong current, which is why they are most often found in shallow areas with slow currents and lots of leaves and debris.

Although Connor said no specific studies have been done recently, the above-average runoff in the spring and beginning of the summer left the lake cloudier and more debris-laden than normal — both of which could lead to a healthy leech population.

He said leeches do not eat frequently but when they do latch onto a food source, they can expand up to five times their size. In the case of a human, they take a minimal amount of blood but it is a significant feast to a leech.

The blogosphere being what it is, there are a few "modest proposals" for reducing the leech population and simultaneously staving off a world famine.

"Are leeches the other white meat?" asks Mee-n-mac, a frequent contributor to the Winnipesaukee Forum and members since 2003.

While one woman said she thinks they're probably sold as clam strips, another recommends using Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic rather than salt to remove a leech from one's extremities.

Others recommend lightly sautéing them in garlic and butter and washing them down with "copious" amounts of alcohol. Yet others, recommend attaching the leech to a leg of someone in the throes of a serious drinking binge to bring out all the possible flavor.

Hoopdawg, a new contributor to the forum, actually includes some specific breading techniques and recommends serving them with lobster forks when offered as an appetizer.

While a sense of humor goes a long way toward nouveau-leech cuisine, the real natural leech predictors are the bass, the turtles, snakes, and other amphibious wildlife.

So, someone or something, somewhere, at some time, will be eating high off the hog on our lakes' most dastardly, and creepy, residents.

Enjoy.


======

So, I'd like to propose our next fund-raiser...

The Winnipesaukee.com Forum Cookbook