Log In


Reset Password
Archive

A Normal Occurrence?--Leeches Suck, Especially In Dickinson Pool

Print

Tweet

Text Size


A Normal Occurrence?––

Leeches Suck, Especially In Dickinson Pool

By Dottie Evans

Frogs and turtles are one thing, but leeches are something else.

At least, that is the way some parents and children feel who have lately been sharing the Dickinson Park pool with the creatures.

Any kid who has grown up swimming in a freshwater lake, perhaps in Maine or Minnesota, or anyone who makes a habit of wading in Newtown’s freshwater ponds knows all about leeches.

They are those slimy black slugs that may quietly attach themselves to bare legs and between the toes while the oblivious swimmer is happily immersed.

People who are used to leeches also know that they really are quite harmless. Though they are not pleasant to look at, they are easy to remove. All that is needed is a gentle tug or a sprinkle of salt.

Nevertheless, the double-whammy combination of a very wet spring and recent steaming hot weather might have been responsible for the recent minipopulation explosion of leeches that has occurred in the Dickinson Park pool.

Though none have become attached to any swimmers, the leeches are causing a stir.

 “Kids have been catching them. We’re not surprised they are there because it’s a pond. They eat algae and after the heavy rains, the numbers seem to have increased. We’ve been vacuuming them up, and the lifeguards are skimming some of them off,” said Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Director Carl Samuelson last Friday morning.

“There is a very low level of chlorine in the pool water, just enough to take care of bacteria, but we will not be treating the water any further,” he added.

Donna McCarthy, director of the Health Department, was contacted when several parents complained, and she called the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as well as the Connecticut Park Department.

“Yes, there would be leeches in any freshwater pool or pond,” Ms McCarthy said.

She had just finished speaking with Department of Parks representative, Bob Reynolds.

“They did not advise us to treat the water for the leeches. If I think it becomes a bigger problem, then I’ll look into it. But we’re not going to go down that road unless we have to,” Ms McCarthy added.

The state does not treat its swimming ponds, she added, though lifeguards have been instructed on ways to help swimmers remove the leeches should any become attached.

Comments
Comments are open. Be civil.
0 comments

Leave a Reply