Squirmy critter seen at wildlife refuge leaves Texans disturbed. ‘Please nooooo’
Wildlife officials recently shared video of a stretching, squirmy, slimy critter spotted at a Texas refuge, and it’s grossing people out.
The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge shared video of the creature in a Sept. 13 Facebook post, challenging the public to guess what it is.
Thousands sounded off in the comments, offering their best guess, or just expressing their disgust toward the writhing critter.
“It’s a turtle leech!” the refuge said later. “Sooooo creepy.”
Some were quick to ask if the rather large leech has any taste for human blood.
Employees have only noticed the leeches attached to turtles, the refuge said.
“I work in this pond, and have seen them before, so if one does attach, please nooooo,” a refuge employee said.
When a turtle leech finds a turtle to suction onto, it will spend the rest of its life feeding on the unlucky reptile, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. A heavy infestation can be seriously harmful for a turtle due to blood loss, according to the department.
“Pour some salt on dat thang!!!!!” one person commented on the post.
“Can you imagine the catfish you could catch with that monster!!” said another.
“WTH. These experiments out (of) the lab,” another commenter said.
“It gon turn human in 2 days,” a comment read, calling the creature an alien.
The post had been shared more than 2,300 times as of noon on Sept. 17, getting over 3,700 comments.
Established in 1963, the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 37,000 acres of marsh and wetlands near the Gulf of Mexico.
The refuge is roughly 60 miles east of Houston.
