- I don't think that there's anything that can truly
prepare you for
sticking your arm into a container full of leeches.
My arm is
shaking a little bit.
It's the real deal.
I'm not gonna lie.
I am definitely nervous.
Oh my gosh.
They are just squirming all over the place.
This is gonna be intense.
I'm Coyote Peterson
and I'm about to be eaten alive
by leeches.
Ready?
One,
(exhales)
two,
here we go.
Three.
(dramatic music)
You know, normally on a day like this
I'd be out there in the lily pads
catching snapping turtles.
But today, we're gonna do something a little different.
Now we post these Dragon Tail's episodes
a lot of you write in and say,
Coyote, how many times have you
been covered in leeches?
And the answer to that question
is absolutely never.
In fact,
in 20 years of catching turtles
being in swamps, ponds, and lakes,
ankle deep to neck deep
I have had virtually zero leeches
end up on my body.
The only time I think I've actually had a leech on me
is when I'd been holding a snapping turtle
and one has actually crawled off the turtle
and onto my hand.
And even when they did
they would suction on
but they would never suck blood.
I'm sure a lot of you have seen
the movie "Stand By Me."
You know that scene when the kids wander
down into the swamp and get covered in leeches
and they're like, "Uhhh, we're being eaten alive."
That does not happen.
So what we're gonna do today is prove
that not all leeches suck human blood.
Now I'm sure you're thinking to yourselves
Coyote, I thought we were
going to see some leech bites.
And you just said
not all leeches suck human blood.
And they don't.
But I wouldn't let you guys down.
So today we are going to test what happens
when my arm goes into a container
with two different species.
What I have here
are two separate containers.
This one has your common freshwater leech.
Ones like we would find in the pond right behind me here.
These live in North America.
And in this hand
are European medicinal leeches.
These ones are from overseas
and trust me when I say
that they absolutely love human blood.
All right, what I'm gonna do now
is dump the freshwater leeches into the container
and then I'm gonna put my arm in there.
You guys ready?
- [Man] Do it.
- [Coyote Peterson] Here you go guys.
Look at that.
They are creepy looking
but I'm not nervous right now
because I know
that these leeches will not suck blood.
Even if they attach to my arm
it's more of them being curious
and testing out the environment
than it is them wanting to get a meal.
The moment of truth.
My arm is about to go into the container
with the freshwater leeches.
Ready? - [Man] Yep.
- [Coyote Peterson] One,
two,
three.
(playful music)
I said I wasn't nervous, but even still,
putting your arm into a container with any leeches
it will definitely get your heart rate going.
Oh boy, that one looks like it's actually
going towards my arm right there, do you see that?
Most species of freshwater leeches,
especially the ones that can be found in the United States
feed on smaller invertebrates
or co-blooded species like reptiles and amphibians.
They are rather intelligent.
And this is something new in their environment.
They're going right up to my arm.
And they're actually turning away.
Look at that.
I kept my arm submerged in the container
for 15 minutes
and wasn't bitten by a single leech.
Okay, so I think at this point we have
proven that freshwater leeches have no interest
in sucking my blood.
Let's bring out European medicinal leeches
and see what happens with those.
The next type of leech is native to Eurasia.
And is likely the most famous species
as they have often been used in various medical
procedures, like reconstructive surgery.
They live in muddy freshwater ecosystems
and are notorious for feasting on blood.
I just went and picked up the container
of European medicinal leeches
and you probably even change
you probably didn't even notice
the change in the inflection in my voice.
I'm actually nervous, at this point.
These leeches are gonna adhere to my arm
and they are going to consume my blood.
They haven't eaten in a few days,
and trust me when I say,
that they are hungry.
All right, are we ready for me to put them
into the container Mark?
- [Mark] All right.
Release the beast.
- [Coyote Peterson] Here they go.
All right.
This is it.
No turning back now.
This is for science.
Oh boy.
- [Mark] A lot of leeches in there Coyote.
- [Coyote Peterson] This is gonna be crazy.
All right.
I think it's about time
to sink my arm into a container
full of leeches.
Oh my gosh.
They are just squirming
all over the place.
This is gonna be intense.
Are we ready for me to be
eaten alive by leeches?
- [Mark] I think so.
- You're ready?
Mark, you're ready, I know you're ready.
Ahhh.
- [Mark] The camera's ready.
- [Coyote Peterson] The camera's ready.
Coyote pack.
I feel like you're probably ready.
All right.
- [Mark] There's a lot of leeches in there.
- [Coyote Peterson] There's a lot of leeches.
All right, so without further adieu
I'm Coyote Peterson
and I'm about to be eaten alive
by leeches.
Ready?
One,
(exhales)
two,
here we go.
Three.
(dramatic music)
That gets your nerves going
that's for sure.
Look at that
this one already, boom.
Just like that, instantaneous
secured to my arm.
Holy mackerel.
They're just like swarming towards my arm.
Look at that!
One on my arm there, that's three.
(exhales) In a matter of seconds.
My arm has been in here
hold on, this one's trying to go up my shirt
go this way, boom.
Another one there on my hand.
My heart is racing right now.
Look at that.
They are all over me.
Ahh.
Uhh, I can definitely feel
something happening.
(inhales) Oooh it feels
like sandpaper grinding against my skin.
(exhales)
My hand and arm have been in the water
for about 60 seconds.
And all but one leech is now
on my arm.
Now, the way that the leeches sucker works
is they adhere on
and they release from their saliva
an anti-coagulant enzyme.
That enzyme, not only numbs the skin,
it also doesn't allow the blood to clot.
Now, they have
teeth that are kind of in
the shape of a Y.
Here, Mark, look at my fingers.
It looks like this.
The three teeth of a leech
that go like that
and they slice into you.
And I can feel them actually
cutting into my arm.
And look at that, look at how
that leech is bent over,
it is holding on with the posterior sucker
which is the tail,
and it is consuming blood
from the anterior sucker which
is the mouth.
And holy cow, is this uncomfortable.
Uhhh.
(heartbeat sound)
(exhales)
It has been
about 20 minutes so far
since my arm has been in the water.
Pan the camera down, look at how
big the leeches have gotten.
They are completely swollen with blood at this point.
At this juncture, I think
these leeches have had enough of a feast.
And it's time to get them off of my hand and arm.
Now there is a right way
and a wrong way too remove a leech from your body.
You may think, let me yank it off.
Yanking it off is bad because you can
actually pull their teeth out into the wound.
Those teeth get left in the wound
you can end up with an infection.
And you may think to yourself, well
maybe I should put salt on it,
or put a lighter behind it and heat it up
and it will be like, I'm scared, let me get out of here.
That's also really bad because it will
actually cause the leech to regurgitate
some of its food into the wound.
That also will cause an infection.
Now the best way to remove a leech
is to just use the edge of your finger.
And what I want to do is softly slide
the anterior sucker
off of the wound.
Okay, you ready for that?
- [Mark] How do you know which is which?
- [Coyote Peterson] Well, it's obvious that
this is the anterior side as
you can see the back end
is not attached to anything.
And look at that leech
oh that one has popped off.
Oooh, and that one popped off too,
look at that.
Well.
There's also the since the leech
has eaten enough
and it's going to just
release itself on its own
those two leeches are so full of blood.
There, done eating.
Look at how big that leech is.
It is full of blood.
And look at the blood just pouring out
of my hand at this point.
- [Mark] Wow. - [Coyote Peterson] That leech
basically said, okay,
I'm done eating.
Back into the water with me.
What you want to do
is just gently slide your finger
over the anterior sucker.
Here you go, look at that.
I got the leech to pop off
and then I can just pop the posterior sucker off.
And plop, back into the water with the leech.
Oh, there we go.
Oooh, that one hurts, look at that.
You can see the blood just seeping out.
Ahhh, there's four of them right there.
This is going to be the bloodiest spot.
You guys ready?
One,
two.
Now there you have it.
The final leech.
You guys ready?
Get in your zone buddy.
Ahhh.
The blood it's like
there's a lot of water in my blood
and that's the anti-coagulant just breaking down
all the platelets.
And you can just see my blood
almost it's really, really thin.
And it's all about the amounts
of anti-coagulant that actually went
into my hand.
I may be bleeding for hours, at this point.
My hand is actually numb
and that's how these leeches, look at
how big and fat and happy they all are
at the bottom of the tank there.
The water is all red.
As you can see, the drips of blood
falling down into the water.
It's like a shark attack happened
right here in this container.
That's crazy.
Well, I think ultimately at this point
we have proven that while there are
some species of leeches that will not
give you a bloody bite,
on the other hand,
there are definitely some that will.
The only thing left to do now
is clean up this mess.
Stick around
and I'll show you exactly how to dress
a leech bite
if you're ever unfortunate enough to get one.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Man, that's a lot of blood.
There are nearly 700 species of leeches
found on our planet.
And the good news is
that only a very small percentage
would even consider
consuming human blood.
This is not an animal you ever
need to be afraid of.
They do not transmit diseases
and have never been responsible
for a human death.
As for me,
I took on a massive amount of anti-coagulant
and bled for nearly 24 hours.
In the end
was it worth it?
Well,
if you no longer fear going into a lake
or pond, because we have proven
that most North American freshwater leeches
have no interest in drinking human blood
then I would definitely say that the answer
is yes.
If you thought removing the leeches was like
watching a scene from a horror movie
make sure to check out the behind the adventure
where I show you how to clean up
and treat the aftermath.
And don't forget,
subscribe to join me and the crew
on this season of Dragon Tails.