It is, if you ask me. But in light of humanity's disconnect with nature, and our concerning lack of knowledge about parasitic creatures, the idea that some of us are nurturing these parasites is also, uh, fascinating.
A leech keeper, Ariane Khomjani once said: “They're amazing, curious creatures that grow like crazy and make wonderful pets.”
Yes, he even explained how individual leeches have their own unique personalities, with some being more adventurous and others more shy.
In his words, “some like to try and sneak a feed more often than others, haha! But once they're full, they're content to sit and rest for a bit out of water if handled gently.”
Khomjani has four of these squishy vampires. The species he keeps is one of the larger types: buffalo leeches (Hirudinaria manillensis) from Asia.
What You Should Know About Leeches
Leeches can have up to eight pairs of eye spots, which they use to detect the shadows of potential prey. Their brain bits are spread across 32 body segments, and they are hermaphrodites, so each individual leech has both male and female organs, although they still require a mate to breed.
If a hungry parasitic leech senses your body heat or the Carbon dioxide in your breath, it can loop its way towards you by using its mouth and butt suckers because their butts can also suck.
When a Leech finds a suitable host, it will inject its saliva - which contains anaesthetic and anti-blood clotting compounds - before biting down with two - or three-pronged serrated jaws.
Khomjani said: “Once they get feeding you don't even feel it, even with the large buffalo leeches. Although the initial bite can hurt a bit.”
Leeches can go up to a year between feeds, but leech traders recommend feeding the larger species every 3-6 months.
Should You Feed Leeches With Your Own Blood?
No matter how tempting it seems, don't attempt to feed a leech with your own blood without the consent of a doctor. This is because you may be allergic to leech saliva and can also be infected in the process of feeding them. Again, due to the anti-coagulants in the leech saliva, it can sometimes take several days for a bite to stop bleeding. This can be disastrous to people with a disorder in which blood doesn't clot normally.
Leeches And Human Culture
Leeches have been linked with human culture, particularly in Europe, for centuries. Leeches were primarily used for medical purposes, for around 3,000 years. During the Victorian era (in the 1800s) they were recommended for treating everything from headaches to nymphomania.
This craze led to a rather absurd battle between rival pharmacies, who produced increasingly elaborate leech jars in order to entice customers to choose their product.
This historic use of leeches severely reduced medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis) populations across Eurasia, so this species is now protected.
What Are The Usefulness Of Leeches?
Leeches are kept for use in both human and animal medicine around the world and are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as “medical devices”.
Leeches are used post-operatively in patients who have had digit reattachment or muscle or flap surgery.
The leeches are applied to the site and suck away the congested blood to allow for blood flow to the peripheries to keep the surgical site viable.
Some hospitals keep 100-200 leeches to make use of this blood-vessel clearing ability. These leeches are sourced from captive bred populations raised in controlled environments, to help minimise the potential risk of infection.
How You Can Feed Leeches Without Using Your Blood
If you want to keep leeches without offering yourself up as a meal, you can feed them raw liver or heated blood from the butcher. Provided the blood is fresh and not treated with any preservatives or anything like that.
If you want to keep leeches as pets, please make your safety and that of others around you a priority.
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