A familiar sight to mountaineers are the leeches that inhabit the forests of the Philippines. There are several species of hemophagous (blood-eating) parasitic mountain leeches in the Philippines, belonging to the subclass Hirudinea. They range from the familiar brown and black to banded varieties, including those with green and yellow stripes. They are known locally as 'limatik' (Tagalog), 'limatok' (Bicol and other areas), and 'matok' (Cordilleras), among other names. These leeches' range in size from 1 to 3 cm and multiply during the rainy season. Their extremely acute vibration allows them to detect approaching animals and humans. For many, they are a nuisance, especially when you open your shoes and find your socks stained red with your own blood. Others developed a phobia of leeches (bdellophobia) and had horror stories of leeches finding their way into eyeballs, ears, and other body openings. In Mount Banahaw of Lucban, the locals have a specific name (bulanglawan) for a leech that has a known tendency to seek out soft tissue (i.e., ears, eyes). You will see these leeches though; they are part of hiking in the Philippines. This blog post aims to better understand these creatures, and we invite readers to comment on their own 'limatic' experiences! 
Types of leeches in the Philippines
Here's a hot take: Leeches suck. Many types of leeches in the Philippines have always been considered pests, except when used for medical purposes, where they must be stinky. But we don't know how big leeches are until we recognize how many types of leeches there are everywhere we look. Here's 8List's handy guide for that. The most common leeches we encounter are freshwater leeches: parasitic leeches that we often encounter while swimming in lakes or rivers. These are the ones that really stick to us and ruin our beautiful swimming holes, but they are also often used for medicinal purposes. Emotional leeches are the kind of people who hang around you and never fail to make you emotional. They are also called emotional vampires or dementors, because they suck the joy out of your life just by their presence. Think of that friend who thinks that conversations with drag, drag, and more drag are the height of funny talk. Leech Rating: 7/10. To the extent that these emotional leeches exist, they are sometimes true friends who quietly ask for help. While they're easy to ignore, they're definitely worth listening to before you ignore them. 
Marine leeches feed on other marine life in the deep ocean and rarely encounter humans for their leeches. These leeches tend to be particular in their diet, eating only bony or cartilaginous fish, but not both. Leech Rating: 6/10 Not as useful as freshwater leeches for medicine, but less likely to fall prey to humans to begin with. It's kind of self-balancing, except one has never seen a truly aesthetically pleasing leech (or have they?). Leeches who keep asking you for help, but when you don't meet the high standards of help they expect from you, they end up bad mouthing you. Leech Rating: 5/10. They may be horrible now, but usually you first befriended these people for a reason. But yes, they are still naughty. Because they're leeches, and that's what they do. Some leeches live in land rather than water, but only in places with high humidity, like the Philippines, apparently! Most of them live in wetlands in tropical rainforests, usually in places like South America, Africa, and yes, Asia. Leech Rating: 4/10. Yes, they are not as useful as freshwater leeches, and even worse, even less like leeches because they are not found under water, unless we look closely, there are many leeches that do not live in water… 
Limatik vs Linta
Leech vs. Alimatik I've been thinking of something new to post, something new, something rare. that's why leeches and alimatiks were discussed. I want to have fun with my hawks now, so give your grandmother a trip. rather than talk about the leeches of the government and the alimatiks of society, let's make it useful. if you're a provincial like me, maybe you know what's in the title of this post, but if not, just read it. Limatics or leeches (English: leech) are annelids that form the subclass Hirudinea. There are freshwater, terrestrial, and marine limatics. There are also springs that come from lakes and swamps. Like their close relatives, the Oligochaeta, they also have a clitellum. Like earthworms, leeches are also hermaphrodites. The limatic medicinal tool – Hirudo medicinalis – native to Europe, and even its species (or congeners) have been used in clinical bloodletting for thousands of years. here in the Philippines, leeches are popular in the rice fields and alimatik in the forest. but leeches are more popular in BATASAN. 
feared for being a small vampire, will just attack unconsciously. but the government vampire is stronger and will attack from the front. hey oh! I don't plan to include vampires in the government, I'm sorry, I just can't help it. I think only two species of leeches are known in the Philippines, the ones we call leeches and alimatik. the leech is usually found in water and the alimatik in the leaves in the forest. I know that soap and salt remove adhesion, but according to what I read, alcohol and a little fire are also effective in removing it. when you go to a place with a lot of alimatik it is better immediately cover the skin that is usually exposed but you can also apply strong insect repellant also according to my housemate who is a geologist, cigarette smoke is also effective against… why did I think to write this? because I'm afraid of these creatures. 
How to avoid limatik
HOW TO BE REMOVED BLOOD CLOTS Limatiks are scary. Just thinking about those creepy blood-sucking mountain leeches gives me goosebumps. When seasoned mountaineers share their encounters with these parasitic creatures, I often wonder how they survived such a bloody attack. So, when I finally had the chance to climb mountains full of leeches, I realized how traumatizing the stigma we put on those leeches that thrive just to survive. How to avoid Limatik (leeches) So, before you turn back or decide to go through your big climb: Mandalagan, Guiting-guiting, Kanlaon, Makiling, Halcon, Baloy-daku, Timpoong, Mantalingajan and many other limatik-infested trails, here are some friendly tips how you can get rid of limatiks and prevent limatiks bites: Whether it's your first time or another epic comeback, it's always best to read ahead and research the mountains you're sure to climb. With so many blogs available online and hiking groups to check out, there's no reason you shouldn't be prepared. 
Wear appropriate clothing Of course, one of the best ways to prevent those leeches from coming into direct contact with any part of your body is to cover them with proper hiking clothing. Be sure to wear arm guards and leggings so the ticks don't easily slide off your skin. Hats and earplugs are really useful for covering your ears (helmets can be an effective piece too!). It's also best to wear light-colored clothing to make it easier to spot those leeches when they're on your clothes. Make sure you wear socks that fit you well and are long enough to cover the toe of the leggings and prevent any unwanted penetration. Gloves are also great for making sure those ticks don't get stuck on your hands or between your fingers; but they are better for removing termites because of their rough texture. 
Blood leeches
Curious kids: why do leeches suck our blood? The short answer is that leeches need blood to grow and reproduce (make baby leeches)?. Leeches are worms that live in water or on land and feed by sucking blood from fish, frogs, lizards, birds or, if given the opportunity, larger animals such as humans. They suck blood because it is a very good source of food for them. Some leeches only need to be fed once a year. The only problem with sucking blood is that you have to do it carefully, especially if the animal you're sucking might bite or tear you. So leeches, like all bloodsuckers, generally like to bite without causing too much pain. They like to bite in hard to find places. Blood clots but leeches have a solution Another thing leeches have to worry about is blood clots. A blood clot forms whenever you cut yourself and stops bleeding within minutes; eventually, the blood clot forms a scab. 
This happens when blood comes into contact with air. It clumps together and forms a solid lump. The leech cannot eat if the blood forms a clot and therefore releases a chemical that prevents clotting. This keeps the blood flowing so that the leech can suck for two to three hours without stopping. That way, he gets enough food to last until he finds another animal to bite. Leeches are not the only animals that feed on the blood of animals. Others include mosquitoes, ticks, vampire bats (yes, they do exist, but only in South America), bugs, lice, other insects, and lamprey fish. All of these feed on large animals, but do not kill them, which is why they are all called parasites. All parasites live in or on other animals, and many of them feed on blood. Blood can be easily collected either inside or outside the body. It is very nutritious and there is always plenty of it, so the parasite-fed animal can often do without anything. 
Leeches and medicine Leeches can be annoying, and their bites can itch us, but they are not usually dangerous to humans. In fact, leeches have been used to treat human ailments for thousands of years. Their blood-sucking ability was thought to be useful in sucking diseased or "bad" blood from the body, so sick people were regularly leeched. However, we now know that allowing the leeches to suck blood helps little in most cases. In fact, if too many leeches are applied, a sick person may faint from blood loss. The only area of medicine where leeches are still useful is their use to improve blood circulation in the skin. They also reduce the chances of blood clotting when it can be dangerous for some sick people. However, these days we can make an artificial version of using chemical leeches to prevent blood clots, called "hirudin." 
Linta in Philippines
Linta in Philippines, it means, a Leeches living in the Philippines up to dates. (Hirudo medicinalis) are invertebrates of the Annelida phylum whose main food is blood. They are hermaphrodites and carnivores, with 700 species that thrive in a variety of environments. Most of them are small, weighing less than 1-1.5 g before feeding, but some can reach five inches in length. For medical or commercial use, they are specially raised under hygienic conditions, are easily stored and stored at 10° to 20°C in salt solutions without chlorine. Some hospitals keep leeches in stock, and sometimes surgeons find them a useful option to use. Since ancient times, patients have been bled in an effort to restore the proper balance between the four humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) and thus prevent disease and restore good health. The ancient Egyptians were using leeches for this purpose around 1300 BC. C., also in India, as described in the ancient Sanskrit texts of Indian physicians Sushruta and Charaka Samhita. 
The use of leeches was recommended by the ancient Greeks, and later by Pliny the Elder (ca. 23-79 AD) for phlebitis and hemorrhoids, as well as by the Greco-Roman physician Galen (129 AD-c 216). The need for leeches arose during the Napoleonic era after the surgeon François-Joseph-Victor Broussais published his theories and advocated their use in bloodletting procedures. It became a profitable business as the leeches were exported to the United States and throughout Europe. Huge quantities of Hirudo medicinalis, between five and six million, are used annually and harvested almost to extinction, providing more than 300,000 liters of blood for hospitals in Paris alone. Its use declined in the late 19th century as modern ideas about microbiology and pathology took hold and medicine began to abandon the notion that disease was caused by excess blood. The commercial marketing of leeches for medical purposes was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004. This was after a French company, Ricarimpex SAS, which has been breeding them for 150 years in a certified facility, requested that market them as medical devices. 
So, after thousands of years of use as a substitute for bloodletting and as an adjunct to amputations, leeches became one of the first agency-approved living creatures authenticated for clinical use. Although tied to medical quackery, leeches have a real place in contemporary surgery to restore amputated body parts. In such cases, microsurgeons can reconnect arteries relatively easily, but veins have thin walls and are more difficult to reconnect. This is where leeches come into the picture acting as temporary blood vessel substitutes, draining excess blood and offering a less destructive approach to regrowth of venous capillaries. One of the first notable uses of this type was in 1985 when a five-year-old boy's ear was bitten by a dog. Attempts to reattach them were unsuccessful, a small blood clot formed, and anticoagulant agents were of no use until Joseph Upton, a Harvard physician, attached two leeches and "the ear was got stronger immediately."