Giant snails on advance in Florida

BBC News ^ | 4/15/13 | BBC

[NormsRevenge]

South Florida is battling a growing infestation of the giant African land snail.

The snail is considered one of the most destructive invasive species, feeding voraciously on more than 500 plant species.

They can also eat through plaster walls, which provides the calcium content they need for their shells.

Experts recently gathered at a science meeting in Gainesville to seek the best way of eradicating the snails.

According to Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, more than 1,000 of the snails are being caught each week in Miami-Dade county and 117,000 in total since the first snail was spotted by a homeowner in September 2011.

Residents could soon begin encountering them more often, crunching them underfoot as the snails emerge from underground hibernation at the start of the state's rainy season in seven weeks, Ms Feiber told the Reuters news agency.

She added that the snails attack "pretty much anything that's in their path and green".

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out car tyres and turn into projectiles when they encounter lawnmower blades.

In addition, their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.

[Red Badger]

like ‘fetch’?.......

[Forward the Light Brigade]

In Africa they eat them! They are not a problem because there they have the world’s greatest predictor—Man. We need to catch them—cook them with southern fried beer batter and Deep Fry them. Ship them to France frozen and they will provide a new market! Don’t see these slimy insects as a bad thing but as a new way to make money.

[tanuki]

“They can also eat through plaster walls, which provides the calcium content they need for their shells.”

I wonder what some Chinese drywall would do to the critters.

[NormsRevenge]

Sounds like they have tough guts, Florida is full of Chinese sheetrock