It’s the bane of tourists and locals in Munnar, especially during the monsoon when it turns hyperactive, nipping unsuspecting passers-by in its unrelenting quest for blood. And having had its fill, it drops off as unobtrusively as it sneaks on to one’s limbs.
The repulsive leech has few rivals when it comes to tenacity or persistence. It literally swells with its victim’s blood, all the while clinging on like a limpet. Indeed its slimy body and suction-like grip prevent it from being plucked out easily—something the bitten are loath to do.
Few have the nerve to watch a horde of bloodthirsty leeches resolutely converge on one from all directions and swarm up one’s limbs, seeking openings in one’s clothes to nip one painlessly. In fact, no part of the human anatomy, including one’s privates, is safe from these invaders as I’ve learnt from personal experience. Despite wearing boots and thick, tight-fitting stockings during fishing trips and treks, I’ve found the parasites freely using my ankles as filling-stations. Indeed my feet are indelibly scarred with leech bites.
To keep away the pests, local tea pickers liberally smear their lower limbs with leech repellent before venturing into tea fields during rainy spells when the parasites are at their most vicious and persistent, even finding their way into one’s ears! I have seen people (some of them highly allergic to leech bites) with multiple ‘perforations’, all but needing a blood transfusion!
Last year a distraught tourist rushed to a local hospital with what he termed was a ‘snake-bite’, claiming that the ‘snake’ was still embedded in his leg. It turned out to be an oversized leech that had ‘fattened’ itself on his blood for hours, unnoticed.
High drama usually follows when a person is bitten for the first time. One hears horrified shrieks and sees the individual break into an impromptu and frenzied dervish-like dance in a desperate bid to shake off the parasite. The victim seldom dares to pluck out the repulsive creature himself, imploring someone else to do so.
Interestingly, a small pinch of common salt or snuff, dropped on a leech, is enough to dislodge and kill it quickly. And the best way to avoid the pests is to steer clear of damp vegetation during rainy spells—for that’s precisely where they lurk.
There’s a silver lining too. I’ve read somewhere that leech bites help build up one’s immunity to certain illnesses. Perhaps that explains why the bloodsucking parasites were used medically centuries ago.
George N Netto
Email: gnettomunnar@rediffmail.com