Florida Snails
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Effort begun to eradicate giant African snails in Florida
FILE - A rout of giant African snails gather on Aug. 28, 2019, in a corner in Havana, Cuba. Invasive giant African land snails that can eat building plaster and stucco, consume hundreds of varieties of plants and carry diseases that affect humans have been detected once again in Florida, where officials said Thursday, July 7, 2022, work has begun to eradicate the pests. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
CURT ANDERSON
Thu, July 7, 2022 at 1:50 PM
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Invasive giant African land snails that can eat building plaster and stucco, consume hundreds of varieties of plants and carry diseases that affect humans have been detected once again in Florida, where officials said Thursday work has begun to eradicate the pests.
The snails, which grow as long as 8 inches (20 centimeters) and have a distinctive whirled, brown mottled shell, were confirmed by state agriculture officials in New Port Richey, Florida, on June 23. The location in Pasco County is just north of the Tampa Bay area on the Gulf coast.
Florida has twice before eradicated the snails in other parts of the state, most recently a 10-year effort in Miami-Dade County that cost $23 million and ended in 2021 after collection of about 170,000 snails. Now they are back again, most likely the result of the illegal international exotic pet trade or arriving hidden in cargo from overseas.
Related video: Invasive giant African land snails that can cause meningitis found in Fla.
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“We will eradicate these snails. We've done it before and we will do it again,” said Nikki Fried, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, at a news conference Thursday.
The snails have been found in numerous parts of the world such as Hawaii and parts of the Caribbean, including in Cuba where an effort is ongoing to rid the island of the pests.
The snails are known to eat 500 different plant types, making them a major threat to agriculture including peanuts, beans, cucumbers and melons. They will also eat plaster and stucco in buildings, even tree bark, and carry a parasite called the rat lungworm that can cause meningitis in humans, according to the department. They can produce up to 1,200 eggs a year.
“They are one of the most damaging snails in the world,” said Fried, a Democrat who is also running for governor this year.
A quarantine area has been set up in Pasco County where the snails were found, initially by a homeowner. The properties involved will be treated with a molluscicide bait and snails are being collected by state workers aided by dogs trained to sniff them out.
Greg Hodges, assistant director of the state Division of Plant Industry, said it is illegal to import or possess giant African land snails in Florida without a permit. It is also illegal to move them from a quarantined area, such as the one in Pasco County, or to take away other material in the area such as soil, yard waste or building materials without an agreement with the state.
About 1,000 snails have already been collected in the quarantine area, Hodges said. He said anyone who spots a snail should not touch it but instead call 888-397-1517 to report the find.
Fried said people should definitely shy away from the snails, which are not the type one finds in escargot.
“This is not something you want to touch. It is not something you want to eat,” Fried said.
Comments
Despite the fact that the Giant African Land Snail has become invasive in some parts, it has a great many predators. These include rats, foxes, wild boars, hermit crabs, and other snails such as the cannibal snail. Fire ants and flatworms also attack and devour A. fulica, especially when it's young. ... Bon Appétit !
Ahh Florida, If it attacks, wounds, maims, poisons, or kills .......................... it lives in Florida
I hear they taste like chicken.
No snails in my diet ever!
Florida is a real freak show. Anacondas on the loose, as well as parrots, and now giant snails. Something wrong with that state. I live nearby, but I never go to Florida.
Florida dangles into the tropic zone. All the exotic tropic species thrive there.
They have a serious problem in FL with invasive species, everything from fish to snakes to snails even monkeys and iguanas.
To get rid of those snails, all they have to do is apply this same experiment and wa-la! 😁
they wouldnt last long in Louisiana, those Cajuns would figure out how to cook them pretty quick
IIRC, there was a type of falcon or other raptor in the Everglades with a long, curved beak. It preyed almost exclusively on large snails. The bird was back then considered endangered because of the scarcity of - you guessed it - large snails.
Mother Nature seems to cure a lot. One or two large Hurricanes and those Snails will appear in other states.
Or use them for bait.😁
Brookwood, this could be a "Lil Johnny" joke ... 😉😆
I remember someone saying how bad they hated Florida.He said if you look at a map of the country,Florida looks like a certain part of the male anatomy,
A flaccid one. If you gave Florida Viagra, it would soon be up near the Carolinas.
Right now most of the Fluridians are in the mountains if NC.
Escargot sounds good about now.
Too bad they don't live solely on a diet of kudzu.