Fear of the unknown is often worse than fear of something you can identify.
I wanted a name for it.
If I could figure out exactly what the creature was, perhaps I could understand how it might have ended up there and whether there was any reason to be concerned.
So I did what most people would probably do in that situation.
I took a photograph.
Then I started searching online.
At first, my searches were extremely broad.
I tried descriptions based on its appearance: small dark worm in bathroom, black worm-like creature on wet floor, strange creature near bathroom drain.
The results showed all kinds of possibilities.
Some looked nothing like what I had found.
Others were similar enough to make me wonder.
I kept comparing the photograph with pictures, paying attention to the shape, texture, and general appearance.
Eventually, one possibility began appearing again and again.
And the more images I examined, the more obvious the answer seemed.
The creature appeared to be a leech.
A Leech — Inside the Bathroom
Realizing that made the discovery feel considerably stranger.
Most people have heard of leeches, even if they've never actually encountered one.
They're generally associated with wet environments, particularly freshwater habitats. They belong to the same broad group of segmented worms that includes earthworms, although their bodies and lifestyles can be very different.
Some species of leeches are predators that feed on small invertebrates. Others are known for a behavior that has made leeches famous—or infamous—for centuries: attaching themselves to vertebrate hosts and feeding on blood.
That association was enough to make me look at the tiny creature on the floor with a completely different level of discomfort.
Finding an ordinary insect in a bathroom wouldn't have seemed particularly shocking.
A mosquito? Annoying, but normal.
A spider? Not exactly welcome, but understandable.
A tiny beetle or fly? Easy enough to imagine.
But a leech?
That wasn't something I expected to encounter on a bathroom floor.
And immediately, the questions returned.