Leeches are gross. It's simply in the nature of these blood-sucking, slimy creatures. They will always be gross. This "Giant Red Leech" captured on film for the first time? Probably the grossest.
BBC filmmakers captured the creature swallowing a massive earthworm whole while shooting for the new documentary series Wonders of the Monsoon, which follows creatures and cultures in areas, like the Himalayas, that are affected by monsoons. It's the first time the creature, which doesn't even have a taxonomic name, has ever been seen on video. Researchers found the leech on Mount Kinabalu, the biggest mountain in Borneo, and natives of the mountain refer to the creature as simply the "Giant Red Leech." Watch the worm-slurping action below:
The Giant Red Leech isn't called giant for nothing. The leech in the video is among the largest in the world, measuring 30cm long, but according to the Telegraph, scientists believe the slimy creature could grow larger. The leeches are so big that simply drinking the blood of their victims isn't enough. They just eat them whole, like the poor 76cm blue worm featured in the video, which gets sucked down like a spaghetti noodle.
First, the leech picks up on the scent of the worm, following its trail. Once upon its prey, the leech slides its lips all the way down the worm, possibly sizing it up, before latching onto one end. Then it slowly but surely pulls itself over the top of the worm, absorbing it whole until nothing is left. What's so impressive (and terrifying) is that the worm is more than twice the size of the leech, not that it seems to slow down the predator much.
Capturing the entire process on video gave researchers new insight into the workings of the mysterious creature straight out of a horror film.
"Very little is known about them; we don't know how they hunt, or even how big they grow, because no one has researched them," says ecologist Alim Bium. That will be changing now, thanks to this footage.
Tracking the leech down wasn't easy. It took the documentary team several weeks before a heavy rainstorm brought out large numbers of worms, with the red leeches then appearing to digest their prey. Though researchers are no doubt happy they will finally learn more about these rare and fascinating creatures, maybe they could have kept the footage to themselves. It will be hard to look at spaghetti ever again without images of this monstrosity, gobbling up worms, coming to mind.
