The Forest Affliction

When trekking through the tropical rainforest one will generally lose some blood. This is almost completely unavoidable as the swarms of leeches attack from below. The troops gather strength after the rains (which happens often in RAINforest). Then creep across the ground cover silently and can play "twig" was unsuspecting ease. Swiftly but undetectably they attach themselves to whatever appendage come closest to their hiding place: shoe, calf, thigh and even arms are subject to such attacks. Stealthily they worm their way to the most tender skin. They relish the ankles, between the toes and when they can travel so far, between the thighs and buttocks. Their bites are often unnoticed, except for the time they hit the exceptionally tender locations such as the groin or armpit. One may not even notice they're there until satiated, they drop from the body leaving small wounds that gush crimson blood and stain clothing. Later, after the wounds have scabbed over, they will itch incessantly.

The locals, who are forced to live among these merciless creatures have come up with numerous ways to deter them. Almost everyone who travels past their yard equips themselves with leech socks, knee high tightly woven socks that the leeches are unable to penetrate. Those going deep into the recesses of the forest, such as hunters, will rub tobacco on their shoes and legs. Tobacco, suprisingly is a powerful insecticide which will kill leeches who crawl onto its juices. Then, to be extra safe, they spray the insides of their shoes and their socks with Baygon mosquito repellant. This combination works beautifully at killing 90% of all leeches that try to attack. It is wonderful searching one's boots for the number of fatalities still attached. These numbers are always high: 14, 20, 30 fatalities in a few hours. Yet some always manage to slip past the barriers...