Leaches

[tbendl]

Just the word makes me shudder. I found 2 tiny leaches in the pond this weekend and the reading that I've done gives me 2 options. Drain and clean the pond and rinse the plants or do some jar thing with meat. I am going to drain the pond. What do I need to rinse the plants with? And do I need to rinse all of them, like the WH and lilies?
I feel violated... Bleck

 

[j.w]

They will just come back on bird legs or some other means of transportation.......................you need fish to eat them blood suckers up T. My fish would gobble them up before you even ever saw them

Now buck up girl............they aren't as bad as you think depending on the type. We have some in lakes etc. around here. They are tiny and once when I was over in Eastern Wa. out gathering plants in a river they attached themselves to my legs and I came out w/ them all over. I would have thought in the past in my brain that I would have reacted by screaming, flailing and jumping to the moon but I didn't. I just looked down and stood in the water and wisked them all off very gently and went back out and got more plants and did it all over again. The county over there told me they weren't a problem regarding disease so I rest at ease now w/ living on earth w/them and sharing their habitat. Happy ponding T...............you have much more to learn hopper of the grass

 

[tbendl]

BUT I DON'T WANNNNAAAA.... I did give my friend $20 to eat one. Then charged him $20 for some gum. Hehe
In the reading I did it seemed like there was a concern for them getting on my creatures and that they are harmful to fish.
+ they just gross me out.

 

[Troutredds]

Like j.w says T, a few wee goldies in your pond will patrol for those bloodsuckers 24/7. I know you don't want fish, but think of them as hired exterminators, specializing in leech (and mosquito larvae) eradication. It's a lot less drastic than draining the whole pond.

 

[j.w]

Good luck keeping them outta your pond w/o something to eat them. I'm w/Red on using the fish as hit men

 

[tbendl]

Do they eat them? I have gotten conflicting info. Some of the internet reports say that they can attach themselves to fish at the gills and kill or hurt the fish.
It's kinda like having a spider in my bed. The entire bedding gets changed whether it needs it or not. I get in that pond and the thought if bloodsuckers freaks me out. I'll admit it, I went girly on this one...
I wonder if they only come out for October. Like it's national leach month... You know bloodsuckers and Halloween and all.

 

[Troutredds]

Trout love to eat leeches. Up in the lakes of the British Columbia interior, I've caught large Kamloops Rainbows with stomachs crammed full of them. By the way, the spelling is "leech" not "leach", when referring to bloodsuckers. Just saying...

 

[j.w]

I read that they can attach to the fish but that it is the weaker sick fish w/sores that they go for. Keep your fish healthy and water good and fish will be eating the leeches and not the other way around. You can't stop the leeches T...............you built it and they came. Thing is tho they have nothing to eat in your pond so wonder if they will just die?

 

[tbendl]

"leech" not "leach", when referring to bloodsuckers[/QUOTE
Thanks, Troutredds, they are so gross I don't even want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how to spell their name... (That's my story, I'm stickin' to it).

 

[tbendl]

I hope so but since I didn't have anything yummy for them to dine on in the first place, why did they come??... Nothing to suck here leeches, move along!!
I didn't know they were a common thing in ponds. Definitely buying waders now.

 

[j.w]

They may have come from plants that you got where they had good eating hosts to dine on or they came on bird legs or who knows what thing they were attached to that entered your pond. Maybe on a snail or a poop bomb from a bird................leech eggs ya know?

 

[tbendl]

LISAEBETTEN!! lol Yeah I did read that. The 2 I saw were teeny tiny. I just had no idea it was a common thing. A gross disgusting common thing. I'm considering salting the pond. While drinking vodka.
Gosh sometimes I am so overly dramatic I make myself laugh. It will all work out I'm sure.

 

[addy1]

I'm considering salting the pond. While drinking vodka.

drink the vodka, skip the salt. If not careful you can kill all of the plants you just planted in the pond and bog. I have never seen or had a leach on me and I am in our pond all of the time. Wading and cleaning up plants. But I have carnivorous fish............

BTW tb they don't drink much blood...............just a few drops!

 

[addy1]

poop bomb from a bird................leech eggs ya know?

POOP BOMBS away Tbendl..............DUCK!

 

[tbendl]

No bird would dare fowl (hehe) the beauty of my pond!