Reports of leech infestations at Washington City parks spur investigation

WASHINGTON CITY — Two residents this month claim to have encountered swarms of leeches in Washington City parks.

The Boilers park sign, Washington City, Utah, June 22, 2022 | Photo by Truman Burgess, St. George News

Malorie Seegmiller, a local resident and mom, said she took her kids under the bridge in the back corner of Nisson Park to play in the stream, as they usually do, but this time, she noticed something unexpected.

She said she saw broken ceramic shards in the water, and as she went to clear them, she saw “hundreds of leeches” latched onto the ceramic pieces. She took a mineral strainer she had with her and picked up a ceramic piece and then recorded the leeches with her phone.

“Luckily I got there before my kids and noticed before the leeches got all over them,” she said. “I did have a couple leeches on my feet after I got out. It was freaky. I’ve never had leeches on me before. I don’t ever want that to happen again.”

Seegmiller said she’s gone to Nisson Park for years, and this is the first year she’s seen leeches. She posted the video on Facebook to “let other moms know not to go there.”

A local swims in the natural spring at The Boilers park, Washington City, June 23, 2022 | Photo by Truman Burgess

“Be wary,” Seemiller said. “There should be a sign put up with a warning for moms and their kids.”

Dozens of leeches attached themselves to a swimmer at another popular Washington City park, The Boilers.

Clayton McCune, a 23-year-old St. George resident, visited The Boilers on June 11 as part of a family gathering. He said this was the first time visiting the park that he swam in the water, and he stayed in the natural spring for 30 to 45 minutes.

“I got out and started feeling itchy on my feet and hands,” he said. “I realized there were a bunch of leeches on me. They were tiny, maybe 4 or 5 millimeters in length. I probably had 50 of them on my hands. By the time I got them all off, my feet were bleeding.”

McCune thinks the leeches were most likely congregated on the concrete wall closer to the playground. He said the leeches were light brown, “flesh-colored.” When he got out of the water, McCune warned another family about the leeches in the water, and they responded that they already knew about the leeches and were swimming anyway.

He said that now he’s aware of the leeches, he probably won’t swim at The Boilers again.

Jordan Hess, Washington City’s public affairs officer, told St. George George News the city is aware of these claims.

Muddy water alongside a trail at Nisson Park, Washington City, Utah, June 23, 2022 | Photo by Truman Burgess, St. George News

“We saw that one post on the ‘Washington City Matters’ Facebook group,” Hess said. “But we’ve had zero calls into the city about it, neither at city hall or the rec center that’s over our parks.”

Hess said after he saw Seegmiller’s video, he personally went to both The Boilers and Nisson Park to investigate, but he didn’t see any leeches. He said he spoke with a family who was playing in the exact spot Seegmiller had claimed to see the leeches, and the family said they hadn’t seen leeches in the 30 minutes they’d been playing there.

Hess also said that Kole Staheli, Washington City’s assistant leisure services director, also “went out as official city staff and checked. He couldn’t see or find anything.”

A recent scientific checklist compilation of North American leeches says there are 88 freshwater leeches north of the Mexican border, and “freshwater leeches are important components of … communities in nearly every freshwater ecosystem.”

Leeches feed on blood and secrete anesthetic to their feeding sites, making them difficult to detect. Blood can continue to flow for hours after the leeches stop biting, due to the anticoagulant they inject when they feed. Leeches also can carry and spread disease.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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