Beware the Royal Wildlife

Bicycle related chatter & discussion
User avatar
lindsay
Posts: 380
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 15:29
Location: Sydney Australia

Postby lindsay » 03 Apr 2014, 15:00

Last Sunday I was doing a ride through the Royal National Park, standard stuff, after having dropped from Stanwell Tops and passing McKell Avenue we were then about halfway up the climb when I decided to heed the call and stop for a natural break. Into the bushes I went and then, relieved, back onto the bike. With a left turn at Loftus we finished the ride at Waterfall where the car awaited. Picking up hitch-hikers is now something that has fallen out of fashion, however little did I know...

We stopped at a rather commodious coffee shop in Sutherland for a spot of lunch & not letting formality stand in the way of comfort I took my cycling shoes off to give my feet a little air. After a bit one of the waitresses came around with a broom to get something off the floor that was doing it's best to exit stage left. Then to my horror there was a pool of blood under my right foot & a leech, the size of my thumb was suctioned on my ankle through my sock. There was another leech going for the front door. So head count was four, one that burst, one having lunch & the two trying to leg it. She very kindly gave me a packet of salt so me & my parasite limped outside to part company. We then did our best to help mop up the mess I'd left behind. On a brighter note the nice waitress said I wasn't as bad as the guy who had been working on an overflowing septic tank and left a pool of maggots in front of the counter.

No real after effects except a couple of itchy lumps where they were connected. I did feel something itchy around my foot as I was riding after the stop but not enough to make me have a good look at the time.

So my advice is in this damp cooler weather stay clear of the bush in this area. I know DEET works well as a repellant, but perhaps one's natural breaks may be best taken in more formal structures...

Lindsay

Eleri
Posts: 1753
Joined: 31 Dec 2009, 08:43
Location: Erskineville

Postby Eleri » 03 Apr 2014, 17:35

Perhaps more so for women...

User avatar
Philip
Posts: 531
Joined: 12 Feb 2012, 17:48
Location: Earlwood
Contact:

Postby Philip » 03 Apr 2014, 18:12

While walking in the RNP a month or so ago my wife also picked up a leech. It was on her for ages and left a nice blood stain on her trousers. They are very effective at numbing the area to avoid detection. They also inject some anti coagulant which is why the spot bleeds so much after they detach. Gruesome little suckers.


Return to “Conversation”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests