Is A Leech Bite Nasty?
Do You Fear The Real Rainforests Beasts?

The Jungle Of Little Horrors: Better A Leech Bite Than ...

By Jeet Sukumaran

To many trekkers the rainforest is a retreat and a sanctum - a place of sanity and safety to escape from the stress and strife of human society and civilization.

To others the thicket of towering trees and dense brush remain a dark and dangerous location to avoid. To different visitors, the rainforest holds different terrors.

To some, coming across the slightest hint of the presence of a tiger - pugmarks, a loud sound, a funny smell - is enough to induce them to hightail it back to city life. For others, venomous killer snakes coiled and ready to strike from branches above or leaf-litter below send them home in a hurry.

The very idea of nasty, plump, hairy spiders, ready to scamper down open shirts or pant legs to inflict a vicious bite is also a fast ticket out of the jungle.

But in reality all these conceptions are sadly misplaced, especially in the fear hierarchy. The fact is, that the rainforest, while far from a comfortable place, is pretty safe animal-wise.

And while you should always exercise caution, there are other things that deserve your attention before starting to fret over tigers, snakes and spiders:

• Not getting lost on the trail
• Not falling down a hole or rock face
• And making sure you have plenty of safe drinking water

Not to say that tiger attacks and snakebites do not happen. They do. It’s just so uncommon, and so unlikely, that worrying about them is like worrying about catching the flu while riding a rollercoaster. Tigers and other large predators are not an issue; humans are simply not seen as prey, but rather as things to be feared.

Snakes are even less of a threat. They are so secretive and shy and usually escape without notice that it is a rare occasion to encounter these slithering beasts.

But if you get lucky and see one, then basic caution and respect will allow you to appreciate the beauty of one of the rainforest's more interesting animals in mutual safety.

Spiders are still a mystery. Besides giving you the creepy-crawlies and spinning orb-webs across jungle trails that ensnare trekkers face first, these eight-legged wonders are rarely of immediate danger to humans.

So what are the real tormentors and horrors of the rainforest? What creatures will do their best to make your life as miserable as possible?

In fact, it probably is one of their primary functions in the ecosystem to torture, abuse and kick the stuffing out of hikers and researchers in the field. Let’s meet the usual suspects.

Leeches – Toll Collectors of the Rainforest

Nothing characterizes the tropical rainforest experience more than a leech bite.

These inch-long bloodsuckers invade the body wherever an opportunity opens up. After trampling through the jungle and thrashing across streams, leeches are sure to be found hanging like grapes off your ankles, staining white socks a rich crimson from spilt blood from an unhinged leech bite.

But don’t despair because leeches and a leech bite are perfectly harmless.

Unlike mosquitoes, they carry no disease whatsoever. Unlike ants, their bites are virtually painless. And unlike ticks, after drinking up their fill, they detach and drop off like a sloppy drunk and crawl away leaving you soiled but in peace.

So leeches are really quite amiable companions, and would not be regarded as a nuisance if only the leech bite was not so damned itchy. Sometimes a leech bite can take a week or two to completely heal, and all the while it is itchy, itchy, itchy.

Be happy to know that terrestrial leeches are a unique feature of the Asian rainforest. Most other leeches are fully aquatic. So avoiding a leech bite is darn near impossible. But you can try to reduce your overall ‘leech-load’.

Buying a pair of calf-high leech socks or just tucking your trousers into your socks is good enough to allow in only one or two culprits. Many people spray their footwear and leggings with insecticide, but that is not the healthiest alternative.

If leeches still bother you then treat them like toll collectors. No matter what you do or where you go, leeches will be on your path to demand payment by picking your soft spots instead of your wallet.

Leeches are such part and parcel of the rainforest experience, that their presence indicates good lowland or hill forest habitat. And as far as the torments of the rainforest go, a leech bite is relatively benign.

Ants – Pain in a Flurry

Ants are everywhere. Some are very small and some are very large.

Many are harmless, but many more can ensure you experience new levels of excruciating pain. Ants are also relentless, unforgiving and very protective of their turf.

In most instances, while watching birds or taking photographs, you don’t even realize you’ve disturbed the ant highway, resulting in a stream of six-legged critters parading up your pants. Then the ant bites. And another ant bites. And another bite. And another bite.

It is hard to imagine that something so small can be so painful.

Once, while climbing a rock face, a friend put his hand on a ledge above to pull himself up. “It felt like touching a fiery hot griddle,” he recalled. “After yelling in a suitably manly way, and instantly retracting my hand, it was like being burnt. I tried another place on the ledge, and seconds later I was bitten again.” Hours later, the pain still only died down to a dull throb.

Ants will always find you first; so don’t bother trying to avoid them.

Centipedes and Ticks- Nasty Travelling Companions

Remember this phrase: Be afraid, be very afraid.

Truth be told, the centipede is one little critter to stay away from in the rainforest. With their multiple legs scurrying about the forest floor, these mild looking menaces are very quick and very aggressive.

And their bites cause enough pain to put you out for a couple of weeks. Take a bite on the leg and it will cause it to swell up to twice its size, while you are bedridden with fever.

Despite their size, the centipede is a true jungle horror. So give them a look and then plenty of space on the trail.

Ticks are annoying little beasties. Rarely are they detected crawling around your body cavities before digging in for a blood meal.

It’s only much later when they bloat like balloons from non-stop feeding that they get big enough to notice. And they don’t like to be disturbed or detached from their feeding frenzy either. Sometimes a sharp stinging pain, like a splinter tearing at your flesh, occurs as ticks dig in for a fight to stay embedded in your epidermis.

Most people despise ticks because they invade our privacy and our private parts. We feel violated from tick bites.

And there is no consensus method for extracting ticks. Just get them out. But don’t be too hasty about pulling these pests out.

It’s best to allow them to relax prior to removal in order to get the implanted feeding part out with the rest of the head and body. If broken off inside your skin, the tick bite can cause itchiness for days and may get infected.

One alternative is to sit down with some alcohol and forceps, and pry or gouge them out one by one as your fingers find them. The alcohol swab is important – it relaxes the burrowed tick for easier, but still not easy, removal.

On the jungle trail it’s easier to carry some matches. Light a matchstick, let it burn for a second, blow it out and poke the tick with the hot end to give it a jolt. This is not a torture technique, it causes a reflex action to loosen it up before yanking it out.

One way of warding them off is to apply a liberal coating of a sulphur-based compound to your body. This is soothing enough on most parts, but on more sensitive areas it burns like caustic acid mixed with pepper juice.

These little monsters are impossible to avoid when the season is right. They seem to prefer dry forest conditions and certain sites, such as pig-trails and wallows.

Ticks are not messy eaters like leeches. Ticks are greedy; they suck up every drop. And the bites may itch for a few days.

Ticks are also hard to kill. If you really want jungle justice, throw the bloated buggers in the fire until you hear a crisp popping sound that signals their immediate demise.

Rattan – Caresses with Fishhooks

Not all rainforest beasts belong to the animal kingdom.

Many plants in the tropical rainforest are festooned with spikes, spines or thorns. The most common and the most irritating one though is rattan.

This spiny palm grows upwards and is well armed with an array of pointed thorns. But what makes the rattan particularly sinister are the rows of small, sharp recurved thorns borne on the ends of trailing tendrils.

Beware brushing up against these plants accidentally; dozens of razor-sharp barbs seize your shirt, pants, backpack or exposed flesh and shred into them into strips. Ouch!

And freedom only comes with a gentle hand. It is no easy task and you must exercise great caution and patience to gingerly unhook the tendrils, thorn by thorn.

Brute force makes matters worse; thorns are strong, resistant to breaking and are designed to dig in. Using force will only render you helpless and immobile and probably pinned down to the ground by a network of tangled vines.

That’s why rattans are also called ‘wait-a-minute’ vines, because that’s what you’ll be yelling out to your fellow trekkers as you patiently extricate yourself from this jungle plant trap.

So the real horrors of the rainforest are small, pesky and persistent.

But that shouldn’t stop you from taking on the challenge of venturing into the wild and the seeing the wonders of nature. Just remember that you’re in their territory and they rule - at least until the rainforest is demolished for a shopping complex.

Then it’s your turn to rule.

[Jeet Sukumaran is a rainforest horror expert taking a jungle break to get a Ph.D. in biology at the University of Kansas. He set up www.frogweb.org as a tribute to Malaysian frog biodiversity.]

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