Yesterday I took the boys on a hike to Timber Lake. The lake is located about 10 miles west of Iron River, just off of US 2. I really like Timber Lake because there is no public access to the lake for boats. There are also no cottages on the lake. The only way to get to the lake is to take the 1 mile+ hike in from the trail head.
We spent a wonderful afternoon on the shores of the lake. We were sitting around the house and my brother was watching television in the lazyboy. I don’t like the kids to watch too much television so I put them in the car and headed west. They enjoy hiking, as they pick up sticks and pretend they are weapons. We went for a swim and drank pop and I read from the “Choose Your Adventure” series. Owen had a leech on his sandal and we tried to identify it. We also saw a squirrel, woodpecker, and a slug. The highlight was when we were packing up. We had talked about all of the animals that could possibly kill you in the northwoods, such as a pack of wolves, bear, cougar, etc. All of a sudden a German Shepard dog came running up to us. It was a friendly dog and just wanted to play. It had a big red collar on it. But it terrified Oliver as he was caught on the shore of the lake and the dog between him and us. All of our talk on how we would defend ourselves against a hungry pack of wolves didn’t help him as he just paniked. I quickly intervened and put him on my shoulders. The dog was owned by a woman who was also coming to the lake.
We had the lake to ourselves for 4 hours. We also heard the call of the loon. A great day together and introducing the boys to the rejuvenating effects of wilderness. I wish Iron County had more lakes like Timber. Most lakes have cottages on them or one can hear the drone of motor boats. That is what makes Timber Lake special.
Bill's Blog 
We seem to have found a similar leech in Buffalo Creek, northeastern Oklahoma. Have you found out what kind of leech it is. We’ve been looking and your leech is the only one close to ours. The underside has a lot of lengthwise lines.
Elaine,
I couldn’t find any guide books to leeches. It is good to know that it is also found in Oklahoma. I’ll see what I can find.
Might be a Glossiphonia complanata. I’ve been searching to positively identify a similar leech we found today with a high school class in Broken Arrow, OK.
Thanks!
Glossiphonia elegans I believe is the North American version of the complanata leech mentioned above. I believe that leech is specific to the British Isles.