Those pesky little creatures

Fieldwork is always fun for a journalist, more so if you are lucky to cover wildlife. You get to travel to remote places and watch new birds and animals. But while the enormous elephant and the charismatic tiger are what mostly attract people, it’s the little critters on leaf-littered forest floors that leave a lasting impression. A little too lasting sometimes.

A few months ago, I was speaking with the Muthuvan tribals who were extracting wild reed in Munnar, Kerala. It was only after several painful stings on my feet that I realised that I had stepped on a wood ant nest. I hopped around in agony, trying to hide my discomfort from the amused tribals. I nursed my swollen foot, which looked like it had contracted elephantiasis, for three days.

Similarly, two weeks ago, I didn’t notice the little intruder while returning from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Pollachi. It was only the next morning that I found it, a mustard-sized tick, lodged in my ankle. Busy slurping on its happy meal, it was so firmly cemented to my skin that pulling it out took some effort. Apparently there’s more to their grip than meets the eye: ticks have microscopic barb-like mouth parts that can hook on to your skin for an ultra-strong grip. According to latest research, some of them even produce a kind of glue that can help seal them to their victim’s skin. Tick spit is so effective that by understanding how it works, scientists could create better medical adhesives.

As if the bites (sometimes the itch lasts for months) are not enough, some ticks have the ability of getting under your skin — literally. They burrow in and make that spot a sort of maternity home, depositing their eggs there. The eggs mature and baby ticks emerge. You don’t get gratitude in return though; only an infection.

Of all these pesky creatures, leeches have the best manners. These worms, the size of an inch or two, love moist ground and often climb up short herbs to hitch a ride on an unsuspecting animal or person. So you may have to cross that formidable clearing, every grass blade waving its black leech arms at you, to reach the forest patch. But you can at least see them when they clamber on to your body. Since I have little option, if I had to choose that one small creature to carry with me for a while, I’d say, give me a leech-infested forest floor any day.