The Balkan peninsula houses a diverse fauna, in large part due to the natural separation of populations due to the complexity of the landscape. In addition, climatic variations across the landscape is afforded through altitudinal gradients. Much leech work has been performed in the region due to the hard work of Dr. Peter Trontelj and Dr. Boris Sket. However, we needed to preserve this diversity in a way that would allow for future large-scale sequencing so we set of to explore Slovenia and Croatia for all its hirudofauna. We were not disappointed as we managed to collect around 10 species of leeches and in a diverse set of environments, from streams and ponds to small springs at the entrances of caves.