Giant Snails Invade South Florida
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There are some things we just can’t make up, like allergies to semen, vultures falling from the sky, and the never ending antics of the Christian crazies. Now there’s the invasion of the giant snails. Yes. South Florida is really dealing with and invasion of giant African land snails.
(AP Photo/Scott Burton)
These critters can reach the size of rats, and can eat their way through stucco and plaster. Each week in Miami-Dade County more than 1,000 are caught, and that’s just the beginning, as their underground hibernation is about to end, reports Reuters.
Since September 2011, well over 117,000 of the beastly mollusks have been caught and that’s just the tip of the iceberg say scientists.
A Florida Department of Agriculture rep explains, the invasion isn’t just gross, it’s also problematic, because these snails eat “over 500 known species of plants,or pretty much anything that’s in their path and green.” If that isn’t enough there’s more: Their shells can blow out tires; their slime can make sidewalks slick; and they carry a lungworm that can give humans meningitis (though no US cases have been reported). They’re also tough to eradicate, since one typically produces about 1,200 eggs per year and can live up to nine years. The last invasion, in 1966, took $1 million—and about a decade—to deal with. Experts from all around the US held a symposium last week to discuss solutions. Among them: stronger bait.
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ABSO!!!!
L’Escargot anyone? 😉
Could we Super-Size that for you?
If thye would be poisonous to those big pythons and we could convince the pythons they were good to eat, two problems could be solved at the same time. Then there might be the problem of the pythons moving into the residential areas, though.
When I lived in Boca Raton, people near the canals were sometimes amused at the occasional young alligator in their neighborhood. They would sometimes feed the little ones marshmallows.
The ‘gators were not quite as cute when the reached 4 or 5 feet in size, though. They still liked marshmallows, though. If none were available, a poodle would do. They looked like a giant marshmallow,, didn’t they?
Really good point James.
South Florida is home to a lot of scary creatures, and this one might well be one the more innocuous.