Is there any way to make leeches stay away?

[ms_sunlight]

Tuck them into your socks.

This. Or buy some hiking gaiters from an outdoors shop. They're designed to stop anything getting into your boots or at your legs.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Do NOT burn them off. It is a common misconception. Burning them off will get them off, but if they have bitten you, the leech will not apply it's coagulant after it's been freaking scorched. In other words, after the leech is off, the bite wound will bleed for hours, or maybe even days. That isn't cool if any of your clothes are white. Not to mention the leech will vomit if you burn them, which could bring up a lot of nasty stuff.

It's also not a good idea to use salt, this also gets them off, but salt in the wound is bloody painful. Also the salt makes the leech vomit too.

The best thing to do is to either.

A. Leave them there. Once they are done they will seal up your wound nicely, they aren't too painful, and will generally leave you alone after they have feasted on your blood once. But I can understand why you might not want to do this, so...

B. Squeeze them until they pop. This will kill the leech, and squeeze the coagulant over your wound, this will keep the wound clean, and stop the bleeding. Depending on how long they've been drinking your blood... well... It can get messy. A leech full of blood isn't the most pleasant thing to burst.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm fairly sure the advice on QI was to just leave them the hell alone, they'll fall off once they're full and only take about a teaspoon of blood, any forcible attempts are removal tend to lead to bits of leech left in your skin.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Same principal as bees (provided you're not allergic). 1 is a nuisance, a whole lot cause problems. Having to stop every 5 minutes to remove multiple leeches (and I'm sure this is in Australia if I'm not mistaken, bush walking seems to be an Aussie term in which case I'm pretty sure each leech could potentially suck all your organs out given how horrible everything in Australia is) indicates that's a shitload of leeches, which means they'll suck out a shitload of blood which is not something you want when out in the wilderness.

It's not even remotely the same principal as bees. Bee stings hurt quite badly regardless of whether you're allergic or not, and can cause irritation for days. Leeches do not hurt. You'd need every inch of your skin from head to toe to be covered in leeches before they caused any significant blood loss. You'd lose more blood by getting a blood test at the doctor's office.

Anyway, if there's one thing that makes me proud to be Australian it's all the shit that can kill you here. Almost every foot of my front garden is decorated with massive orbwebs and I live in a populated area. They only get bigger and more poisonous the further out you go. So cute!

 

[Ix Rebound]

Why would you care? Just let them finish. Leeches don't hurt and don't cause damage unless you try to forcibly remove them. Using salt or trying to burn them causes them to vomit, and that's bad if they recently sucked on something diseased. Pulling them off can cause the mouthparts to stay behind and cause irritation. They'll finish in a few minutes and they hardly take any blood so I don't see why it's a problem. They even seal up the wound for you when they're done, so it's not the least problematic. They're really considerate compared to mosquitoes that cause lots of irritation whenever they feast on you. I actually quite like leeches.

Same principal as bees (provided you're not allergic). 1 is a nuisance, a whole lot cause problems. Having to stop every 5 minutes to remove multiple leeches (and I'm sure this is in Australia if I'm not mistaken, bush walking seems to be an Aussie term in which case I'm pretty sure each leech could potentially suck all your organs out given how horrible everything in Australia is) indicates that's a shitload of leeches, which means they'll suck out a shitload of blood which is not something you want when out in the wilderness.

Yes this was in Australia and not everything in Australia is horrible!
its just a large majority of living things in the bush want to kill you and eat you...
And yes it was a shitload of leeches, every single one of once got a least more then ten on us
God Bless Australia!

 

[Ix Rebound]

Same principal as bees (provided you're not allergic). 1 is a nuisance, a whole lot cause problems. Having to stop every 5 minutes to remove multiple leeches (and I'm sure this is in Australia if I'm not mistaken, bush walking seems to be an Aussie term in which case I'm pretty sure each leech could potentially suck all your organs out given how horrible everything in Australia is) indicates that's a shitload of leeches, which means they'll suck out a shitload of blood which is not something you want when out in the wilderness.

It's not even remotely the same principal as bees. Bee stings hurt quite badly regardless of whether you're allergic or not, and can cause irritation for days. Leeches do not hurt. You'd need every inch of your skin from head to toe to be covered in leeches before they caused any significant blood loss. You'd lose more blood by getting a blood test at the doctor's office.

Anyway, if there's one thing that makes me proud to be Australian it's all the shit that can kill you here. Almost every foot of my front garden is decorated with massive orbwebs and I live in a populated area. They only get bigger and more poisonous the further out you go. So cute!

just out of curiosity, which state are you in?

 

[Verzin]

welll.....you could try injecting something poisonous into your bloodstream.

 

[Connor Lonske]

Snake, use your cigar to kill leeches on your body in the survival menu. You can also use bug juice ahead of time.

 

[Patrick Buck]

Cover your legs in butter. Honestly, it works. Or eat lots of butter. anything fatty.
>=D

 

[fix-the-spade]

Is it true that if you heat a bit of metal then touch a leech with it they instantly drop off?

Yes it is, if your feeling brave you can do it with a cigarette lighter, cigarette or similar hot object.

If someone burnt you at the table you'd probably forget about dinner too!

Seriously though, it's no good for prevention, but 'stab with hot thing' is the best way to remove leeches. If they don'tlet go they die in short order then drop off.

 

[Riecharus]

Wasn't there a study that said leeches actually improve a persons circulation becuase of a substance they inject that makes the blood flow faster? If that is the case than perhaps it would be an option to just let them take their miniscule fill and in return improve your health.

 

[Dogstile]

I was really hoping this thread would be about people trying to get stuff off you.

I'm now going to go cry.

 

[BlackStar42]

Full suit of plate armour should do the trick.

 

[Random Fella]

Let them do it, it's good for you
Medicinal benefits and all

 

[4RM3D]

What I was expecting to find: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech_%28computing%29

What it really was about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech

 

[jays club]

the quiz show qi with Stephen fry had a question like that and the answer was to leave them they cover up the wound after they're finished.

 

[jakeblues69]

Wear pants.
Tuck them (blouse) into your boots.

Never go into the back country in shorts. Ever.

 

[Jark212]

Tuck your pants into your socks. I'd recommend investing in some of those really light hiking pants and some boot socks.

 

[spartan231490]

Recently I went for an all day bush walk with my friends and on the way back we kept having to stop every five minutes to pull leeches off our legs, and to make it harder our hand were all wet so it made it harder to pull those suckers off.
I had to abandon my shoes and socks cause they were infested with them
And since I may do this bush-walk again I would like to know if anyone knows how to get them to stay away, or failing that, how to get them off you quickly?

They make leg covers called gators that would probably keep them off you're legs. They need to come down over the top of you shoe though so you need high top sneakers or, even better, hiking boots.