American Leech Facts

Well unfortunately, the leech escaped overnight. We found it dried up next to our couch. Poor wormy.

Leech facts:

• Leeches are Hermaphrodites, which means after they mate, both leeches can lay eggs.
• The earthworm is actually a close cousin of the leech. They are also hermaphrodites.
• Leeches have a sucker on their tail and mouth.
• Leeches can go for over a year without sucking blood.
• One of the freshwater leeches favorite hosts is the snapping turtle. Leeches can often be seen attached to a snapping turtle's legs.
• Very few leeches can actually "bite" with their teeth. Over 90% of leeches only feed on the blood in decomposing corpses.
• Leeches secrete two chemicals into their victims. An anesthetic is used to numb the bitten area so the host doesn't feel it. A second chemical called hirudin is injected to make the blood flow smoothly.
• Not all leeches feed on humans. Some attach to snails, frogs, and other small animals. Some don't even feed on blood, such as the Erpobdella Punctata species.
• Most leeches thrive in freshwater, but a few are known to live in marine waters as well.

Wooly Worm Facts

Today the wooly worm is still alive. Is seemed to have stopped eating, probably to get ready for winter. We're planning on burying it soon.

Wooly worm facts:

• Wooly worms are also known as wooly bears.
• The spikes of many species can inject a venom that causes swelling and pain. Most of the poisons are from the plants it eats.
• The wooly worm has approximately 13 segments in its body.
• Wooly worms have been known to predict the weather, based on its fur. For example, if the wooly worm's coat is brownish, the winter will be mild. However, if it is black, the winter will be harsh. I read that there's no scientific evidence that this is true, but in the last 20 years they have been 85% correct. Creepy...

The American Medicinal Leech

Well, just this afternoon we were out searching for tadpoles by a filtered lake. We managed to capture a few, which had to be released anyway. The one we did bring home died shortly afterwards. :C We found some snails which were put into our aquarium, and they're getting along fine.

Something quite interesting we found during the hunt was a leech, though it wasn't very big. I placed it into a spare laundry wash cap nearby, with just an inch or so of water. Leeches are flexible, and they always try to  crawl out of anything without a lid on top.

The leech ended up in the front cup holder of our car. It did actually escape after we left our car for a few minutes. It was stuck in a crevice next to the car seat. We had to use a tissue lying on the ground to get it out. The leech swam around for a while, bumping into the wall every once in a while. Sometimes it would stretch for more than three inches, and then swell back down to a center meter. When it wasn't moving, it was usually curled up attaching to the wall.

The Wooly Worm

A few days ago, I was looking for crickets by the woods, and I wasn't having much luck. However, during my searching I did find a rather hairy-looking caterpillar under some foliage. It was curled up and the brownish-red stripe in the middle of the insect made it look dangerously poisonous, so I ended up carrying it home on a leaf. I did try to pick it up earlier, but the hairs kept on slipping away.

Only recently did I read about the "Wooly Worm", and found out over 50 species in the US were considered toxic and quite harmful to health, causing "headaches, painful convulsions and major swelling". Luckily, I wasn't diagnosed with any of these symptoms.

At first we didn't know where to keep it. I told my mom to keep and eye on it, and because of some slip-ups, it escaped in our computer room and we had to find it again. Twice, actually.
Later, I put the worm in a small plastic container containing only the leaf I carried it home with. I kept it in a cold, dark place to keep it alive for the night.

The wooly worm had eaten a small potion of the leaf, and there were a few droppings in the container. After tracking up the worm online, we learned it was a wooly worm, and it's adult form- the tiger moth.

Wooly worms actually have an interesting life cycle. They hatch in early summer, and feed on grasses and weeds until late autumn. Then they search for a rock or a pile of leaves to spend the winter in. The coat of the wooly worm is so effective, they have been said to, "survive an entire winter frozen in an ice cube." In spring, they emerge and feed a bit more before they become moths, which are about 2-3 cm long. They emerge as moths around 2 weeks after the cocoon is formed.
Hopefully, we can keep the wooly worm alive through the winter and see the adult form.