Big leeches, small leeches

Taiping is situated at the foot of the Malayan Mountain Range. As such, there are a number of foothills around Taiping from which, rivers and streams flow slowly to the sea. Taiping is a town built from tin-mining. The tin-mining industry is over now and the tin dredgers have disappeared, leaving behind numerous mining ponds in ex-mining land – a bleak and barren land of white sand, pebbles and stones where only a few hardy shrubs and patches of tall grass called lalang can grow.

When I was about twelve, our family relocated to Kamunting, a small village about 5 kilometers away from Taiping and the last place to be mined. On weekends, my new-found friends and I would play in the ex-mining land that surrounds the village.
One morning, while we were washing our feet in a small river that meanders through this land, we noticed that there were “Buffalo” leeches in the water. (“Buffalo” leeches are large leeches about 10 cm long and 1 cm thick with brown variegation on its back. It lives in water and are frequently found attached to water buffalos, hence its name). We then decided to have some fun with these leeches.

We divided ourselves into two teams. One team dived into the river, which is about 30 feet wide, and quickly swam to the other bank, with the leeches in hot pursuit. One of them then dived into the water again and swam back to this side of the river, with the leeches following behind. When the leeches had reached this side, a member of the second team dived into the river and swam to the other side, with the leeches again in pursuit. Our relay race with the leeches went on and on and I cannot remember who won but, I do know that there was a bunch of very tired “Buffalo” leeches on that day.

Then, there are the “land” leeches. These are smaller, about 3 cm long and 3 mm thick, and are dark brown in colour. They move the same way as caterpillars do and are often found amongst wet grass. Sometimes though, they may just drop onto you from the branch of a tree.

One memorable experience I had with these smaller leeches was when two friends and I were climbing up a forested hill on the way to a durian orchard. When we reached a clearing, we decided to stop for a rest. We were chatting when one of my friends suddenly shouted, “Leeches!” and pointed to the ground about 20 feet away. When I looked, I saw an army of leeches among the grass, racing towards us! Needless to say, we hurried off up the hill.

On another occasion, I found a leech between my toes when I was at home in the kitchen. Pulling it off, I then threw the leech onto some burning charcoal in a stove. Imagine my surprise when the leech began to suck the flame from the charcoal, expanded like a balloon and then exploded. Apparently, these leeches will suck anything that’s warm, be it blood or flame!

However, these blood-suckers are not all bad. Leeches have anti-clotting proteins in their saliva which allow them to continue to draw a smooth flow of blood from their hosts. An anti-clog drug, called hirulog, derived from the hirudin protein in leech saliva, is already in the market. It is used to keep blood smooth-flowing and thus prevent that heart attack or stroke arising from a clogged artery.