Is there any way to make leeches stay away?

[Ix Rebound]

Recently I went for an all day bush walk with my friends and on the way back we kept having to stop every five minutes to pull leeches off our legs, and to make it harder our hand were all wet so it made it harder to pull those suckers off.
I had to abandon my shoes and socks cause they were infested with them
And since I may do this bush-walk again I would like to know if anyone knows how to get them to stay away, or failing that, how to get them off you quickly?

 

[RKOking226]

Salt is the best method of getting leeches off of you. Just poor some on the little buggers and you'll be leech free in no time!

 

[Starnerf]

Wearing pants would seem like the logical solution. Is that not an option for some reason?

 

[Muspelheim]

I'm not sure if it works very well on leeches, I doubt they're very sensitive to it, but whenever I'm bothered by wasps or mosqitoes, I light a cigarette. They're not very happy about smoke, and perhaps it works on leeches as well.

Of course, it's not a very useful advice unless you smoke... Still, was worth suggesting.

But apart from hooking them on the old S:t Nick, maybe there's some sort of leech-repellant out there? If there is, I can't imagine that any outdoorsman-shop wouldn't have them.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

I remember fire being a good one
Burn the suckers (no pun inteded) off with a cigarete lighter or other flame

I'm no expert however, Should check other sources for best way to deal with them.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Is it true that if you heat a bit of metal then touch a leech with it they instantly drop off?

 

[Ix Rebound]

Wearing pants would seem like the logical solution. Is that not an option for some reason?

I was wearing shorts at the time
besides even if you do wear long pants they always seems to find a way to get underneath them

 

[Starnerf]

Wearing pants would seem like the logical solution. Is that not an option for some reason?

I was wearing shorts at the time
besides even if you do wear long pants they always seems to find a way to get underneath them

Tuck them into your socks. And burning/salting/killing the leech in any way is inadvisable as it can cause them to vomit their stomach contents back into the wound. Wiki says the recommended way to remove them is to break the suction at the suckers with a fingernail and them pull them off. Or to wait until they're full and drop off on their own.

 

[Jonluw]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

 

[Aidinthel]

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

But then their mouthparts would stay stuck in you.

Is it true that if you heat a bit of metal then touch a leech with it they instantly drop off?

Burn the suckers off with a cigarete lighter or other flame

light a cigarette

All of you should listen to this person:

And burning/salting/killing the leech in any way is inadvisable as it can cause them to vomit their stomach contents back into the wound.

The only thing worse than something sucking your blood is that same thing injecting its vomit directly into your bloodstream.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

I would care if I chopped my leg off XD

 

[Ix Rebound]

Wearing pants would seem like the logical solution. Is that not an option for some reason?

I was wearing shorts at the time
besides even if you do wear long pants they always seems to find a way to get underneath them

Tuck them into your socks. And burning/salting/killing the leech in any way is inadvisable as it can cause them to vomit their stomach contents back into the wound.

that's disgusting

 

[Jonluw]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

I would care if I chopped my leg off XD

Doesn't matter.
I don't care if you chop your legs off.
Besides, there are plenty of prosthetics on the market.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Done some more digging
Dont remove with fire/cigarette, salt or pulling at it

here is the best and most adviced description of how to remove them

"1) Identify the anterior (oral) sucker which will be found at the small end of the leech.
2) Put your finger on your skin adjacent to the oral sucker
3)Gently but firmly slide your finger toward the wound where the leech is feeding. Using your fingernail, push the sucker sideways away from your skin.
4) Once you have dislodged the oral sucker, quickly detach the posterior (rear) sucker (the fat end of the leech). Try flicking the leech or proding with your fingernail. As you work to remove the leech, it will attempt to reattach itself.
5) Keep the wound clean -- minor cuts in tropical climates can quickly become infected. The leech itself is not poisonous. The wound will itch as it heals."


Theres no real garenteed way of repeling them.
Just make sure your legs are covered with water proof clothing, and make sure that clothing is covered with bug spray/salt

 

[Ix Rebound]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

I would care if I chopped my leg off XD

Doesn't matter.
I don't care if you chop your legs off.
Besides, there are plenty of prosthetics on the market.

Ha! so what, get a Deus Ex style prosthetic leg

 

[Jonluw]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

I would care if I chopped my leg off XD

Doesn't matter.
I don't care if you chop your legs off.
Besides, there are plenty of prosthetics on the market.

Ha! so what, get a Deus Ex style prosthetic leg

At least leeches don't stick to those.

 

[Jonluw]

Yuck.
The whole prospect of leeches disgusts me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to deal with leeches up here.

My advice? A machete. Just, you know, chop them off. I don't care if you chop off your legs or the leeches. It's unimportant. Just chop something off.

Sounds like at least one other person shares my utter disgust with the idea of having a leech attached to me.

Personally it's on the level I just wouldn't go -__-

Agreed.
I'd really just drop the whole thing if it meant I'd have to deal with leeches.

I hate mosquitoes and all other kinds of insects too for that matter, so it's pretty much a wonder that I get out in the summer at all.

It's not so much the idea of having leeches attached to me that disturbs me as it is the idea of having leeches attach without my consent.
Whenever something like mosquitoes are around I just can't bring myself to ignore them, so I'm forced to constantly fight them.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Why would you care? Just let them finish. Leeches don't hurt and don't cause damage unless you try to forcibly remove them. Using salt or trying to burn them causes them to vomit, and that's bad if they recently sucked on something diseased. Pulling them off can cause the mouthparts to stay behind and cause irritation. They'll finish in a few minutes and they hardly take any blood so I don't see why it's a problem. They even seal up the wound for you when they're done, so it's not the least problematic. They're really considerate compared to mosquitoes that cause lots of irritation whenever they feast on you. I actually quite like leeches.