/oss/taxonomy/term/2640/all en /oss/article/health-history/leeches <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?attachment_id=3674" rel="attachment wp-att-3674"><img alt="leech2" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2012/11/leech-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>Have you ever wondered why hippopotami spin their tales when they defecate? African Bushmen say that they are showing God that they have eaten only grass and not fish as fulfillment of the condition under which they were allowed to live in the water. But modern science has other ideas. Hippos can be infested with a leech that has the same brown coloring as the hippo so birds do not find them. They actually live inside the hippo after crawling through the anus into the rectum where they reproduce. When the hippo defecates, the leeches are squeezed out and the hippo whirls its tail to make sure the little blood suckers do not crawl back in.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">While hippos may find leeches annoying, plastic surgeons these days are looking at them with admiration. Not only are they looking at the leeches, they are using them in their practice. Now, the use of leeches is nothing new. <a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2012/11/27/leeches/">Read more</a></p> Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:01:32 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1834 at /oss