When filming toad patrols for the David Attenborough-narrated BBC series Wild Isles, filmmakers were tipped off about an unprecedented behaviour – involving giant leeches.
The film crew were alerted to an odd behaviour that had been witnessed in a remote pool in Dartmoor. Once the toad tadpoles had hatched in the pool, they would make their way out into the open – where hungry leeches wait for them.
The leeches displaying this behaviour are horse leeches (Haemopis sanguisuga), with some reaching up to 15cm. Their teeth are set back in their mouths and are used to chew their prey once they've engulfed it whole. Luckily, they're not keen on humans – but the toadlets need to move fast if they want to avoid being feasted upon.
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Main image: a giant leech catches a toadlet. Credit: Peter Cayless / Silverback Films / BBC
