Comments

• I guess the phenomenon of 'disintegrated' leeches in contact with table salt, which we wittnessed, might be cause by simple osmosis; water just follows the concentration gradient rule, and the tiny leeches just dehydrate.
• May I have a question concerding Wombat's comment, please? If salt can provide a personal barrier to leeches, could salt be used as a land barrier as well? What I mean is, wombat is worried about his young child. Would a good sprinkling of salt arond the house keep the pests outside? We have some very thin, 6-10 cm long, shiny black things came slithering around our house by the dozens. Our neighbour says they are land leeches. Reading about those personal salt barriers, we decided to try this idea out. We bought a couple of 2 kg bags of table salt ($ 1.36 each) and sprinkled around the walls. Those leeches that came into contact with the salt seemed to disintegrate. I hope it helps, but it's early to tell.