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Project Noah Nature School
Dark, nearly black, leech about 1 1/2" stretched out and 1/4" wide while swimming. The "head" is all part of the body, with no eyes and a big sucking mouth that tries to find flesh to attach to. The tail end tends to curl when crawling rather than swimming, and the whole body thickens as it moves.
Shallow standing water warmed by the sun in a grass field that is often flooded.
This is the first year that my attention was drawn to them in this particular field; in past years around this time I've seen mosquito larvae and tadpoles of tree frogs in it. There are apparently 8 different species of leeches in Oregon; I've no idea which one this is.
Spotted on Apr 19, 2015
Submitted on Apr 26, 2015
1 Comment
Leech