Are there leeches in Oregon?

Most summers growing up, my dad and I would make the long trek back to Missouri to visit his family in a tiny town on the banks of the Mississippi river. Besides the humidity, what I remember most are the critters. The fireflies dancing in the summer night air. The chiggers burrowing up under your skin (hated those damned things). Having to check for ticks when we came inside from playing. And the leeches.

One of our favorite swimming holes is called "Leech Creek". I'll be honest, I have *no* idea if that is the official name, or just what we call it. Either way, it's not a misnomer. I can remember being about 13, and my dad and I sitting on the bridge, dangling our legs into the creek while my step-brother swam. I can remember us pulling our legs up out of the water, and each having several small, black leeches adhered to our legs. We calmly removed them and tossed them back into the creek. (Yes, where my step-brother was swimming. And yes, he had several stuck to him when he got out ;) No big deal, really, as the little buggers were everywhere except the river. Which had snakes. I'll take the leeches, thank you.


So, a few weeks back Cody and I headed to the local library book sale, and found a few treasures including a copy of "The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel". It's chock full of usefull tips, like how to say "May I use your belt as a tourniquet?" in four different languages, or when encountering an alien intent on abducting you, to go for the eyes (if they have any) as you won't know where the other sensitive parts are. It also has more practical tips, including a section on how to properly remove leeches.

This, of course, led to a discussion as to whether or not we had leeches here in Oregon. Because for all of the years that we've lived here, I can't remember any. And hubby swears he's never even seen one.

Fast forward to today. We're currently in the process of doing a major backyard makeover. So while hubby worked on stripping the deck, I cleaned debris out of the last few inches of water left in the bottom of the pond. After filling the first bucket with old leaves and twigs, I looked down at my hand and saw something stuck to it. I proceeded to scream like a little girl as I smacked furiously at my hand. My guys? They just stopped to stare at the screaming, flailing madwoman. When they finished mocking me (stupid boys!) I told hubby that if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that had been a leech.

You think they believed me? Of course not.

So I go about filling up another bucket full of debris, and as I stopped to say something to hubby, I feel something moving on my hand. I look down and yep, start screaming that there's a leech on me and flailing like a little girl again.

You think they believed me this time? Of course not.

But this time, I found the little bugger on the ground, and sure enough, it was a leech. Which made me wonder - when did I become squeamish? What happened to the little girl who used to catch daddy longlegs because they tickled my hands when I held them? Or caught snakes to bring home to show my mom - just to make her scream? (God, I loved that ;) But more importantly, I wonder - What in the hell kinda sick, twisted humor does the universe have to answer my innocent little question by sending me not one, but TWO, bloodsucking leeches??

Next time, I'm keeping my questions to myself.