You don't need to go in search of a river or lake to find plenty of water wildlife. We have a well established pond in our garden, which is home to many creatures. My favourites would have to be the newts, these are the smooth or common newts and you generally see them in the pond as they come up for air. There are also plenty of frogs, water snails, and a wide variety of insects. I think the dragonflies in summer are beautiful, as well as their smaller relatives the damselflies. If you want to encourage more wildlife to your garden, then a pond is an excellent way to do it.

Wealso have a small pond in our garden and it is filled with fascinating wildlife. We have a lot of frogs too, as well as newts, water boatmen, leeches, many other insects and even an adder hanging around once. We have a bench right next to the pond just for the purpose of sitting and watching what goes on in there.

Honestly speaking, I hate to see leeches in my pond. I remembered before we have many leeches but when my little sister played in the pond, the leeches sucked her. From that on we banned leeches at home.

It's true, leeches aren't really the kind of wildlife you would like to see in your pond but there's often not a lot you can do about them.

However, if they are Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis), perhaps you could start farming them!

I was under the impression that human blood sucking leeches were on the rare side, but perhaps that is just nowadays?  There are only two leeches in the UK which utilise human blood, one of which is Hirudo medicinalis.

Kingfisher

I wouldn't know how to tell the difference between human blood sucking and non-human blood sucking so I wouldn't tak eme chances. How do you tell the difference between them?

That's a really good question! I haven't been able to find any photos of anything except the Medicinal Leech!

As they are both very rare though, I would guess that the leeches you may see are probably NOT interested in human blood.

If you do find one fastening itself on you, just remember that the Medicinal Leech is endangered in the UK .

Kingfisher

For goodness sake, leaches are part of our natural world. Why differentiate between, say, a dragonfly larva and a leach. If you want a "pretty" pond with only "gentle" wildlife, then get an aquarium with some goldfish!!!!!

I wouldn't mind having leeches in my pond at all, but I always like to learn how to differentiate between different species.

Admittedly, there can be a bit of squeamishness in dealing with creatures which survive by feeding on blood, but because leeches which prefer human blood are so rare in the UK, I don't think you are likely to encounter any.

I feel the same way about ticks--not a big problem in the area where I live, but a serious problem in other parts of the United States.

Kingfisher

I have seen leeches in my pond a few times, but they are very small, and probably not of the human blood-sucking type so I odn't worry about them. It's not likely that I would go swimming in my pond anyway! Although I can see the possible worry if young children play with the pond.

I agree with Richard. There are some things in a pond which if you looked close enough to see would make many squirm,yet they all have their part to play. I'd love a pond but not while I still have small kids.

I agree with shinningstar , I hate leeches because they are sort of primeval in their appearance. Ever since I watched African Queen with Humphrey Bogart they make my spine shiver. It's just one of those things.

Pretty much everything in the environment has their place and their job to do. Removing one piece can often have many effects and that needs to be remembered. I'm not too worried about leeches being in a pond anyway, it is not like I'm going to go swimming in it.

If I had small children, I would make sure the pond was secure and they had no chance of falling in. If they did fall in, leeches would be the least of my worries!

Talking about kids falling into ponds, when I worked for the National Trust I lived in a farm house miles form anywhere. We had a water trough just outside the garden wall where my young son used to enjoy playing with his toy boats. One day, I got home with my colleagues for lunch and my dog, seeing my son playing, bounded over to him to say hello, leapt up, and pushed him face first into the trough. A colleague managed to get there before me and pull out the spluttering, choking young lad. He soon got over the experience and was back at the trough playing, but he kept an eye on the dog after that.