| “ | Cramps are one reason, but in Lake Lachrymose, there's another. Part of the lake is a breeding ground for the Lachrymose Leeches, which are quite different from regular leeches. They each have six rows of very sharp teeth and one very sharp nose that can smell the tiniest bit of food from far, far away. The Lachrymose Leeches are usually quite harmless, but if they smell food on a human, they will start to swarm around him and... | ” |
The Lachrymose Leeches are deadly leeches named after the lake that they call home.
Description[]
They have six rows of very sharp teeth and one very sharp nose. They can smell food from extreme distances though according to Josephine Anwhistle, they are blind, thus probably an explanation to the attacks on humans who have recently eaten. Illustrations show that they have long segmented bodies with two fins that circle their bodies at the neck and middle. They normally feed on small fish and crabs, but will devour human beings if they smell food on a person. Thus, anyone traveling on the lake is advised to wait one hour after eating before entering the lake for any reason.[1]
Victims[]
Known victims of the Leeches are Ike and possibly Josephine Anwhistle, since it is unknown if Josephine is alive or fallen victim to the leeches. Ike only waited 45 minutes before swimming. He thought that was enough (he should have waited 1 hour).
Appearances []
- The Reptile Room (only name seen)
- The Wide Window
- The Beatrice Letters (mentioned)
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (film)
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)
Trivia[]
- Ironically, Ike Anwhistle gave Lemony Snicket a Lachrymose Leech paperweight as a graduation present.
- Although these leeches fortunately don't exist in real life, there is a similar creature that do called "lampreys", especially "sea lampreys". They have tons of teeth, although they can't maul their victims apart like a Lachrymose Leech can. When lampreys bite their victims, their wounds are very shallow.
- In the console version of the video game, the player must protect Josephine from the leeches by firing peppermints.[2]
A leech in a jar.
- A leech appeared in "An Unfortunate Teaser", a YouTube teaser for the Netflix TV series. The official Netflix channel commented on it: "Nope, this isn't an official Netflix teaser, but we won't call Count Olaf - THIS IS MOST MARVELOUS."[3] Despite this, many don't believe this claim due to the high quality of the teaser, as well as the leech being essentially identical to what would appear in the show.
External links[]
Gallery []
