It’s difficult to think of a snail as a destructive beast. In reality, an invasive species of enormous snails is wreaking havoc on Miami.
As if the Sunshine State didn’t have enough to worry about with piranhas popping up in local waters, for the second time in the last 50 years, the Giant African Land Snail is being hunted down in an effort to eliminate them from the continent. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is asking Floridians to call them if they spot any of the enormous slimy critters. Unlike the permit required to hunt pythons in Florida, you don’t have to be registered to give the FDACS a call and report signs of the giant snails which may have been imported illegally for religious rituals.
Sure, the Giant African Land Snail, which can grow up to 10 inches long, is a pest because it will eat the stucco off the exterior of homes, but more importantly it’s a health risk for humans. The snails can be carriers for microscopic rat-lung worm, which can transmit meningitis to humans. Like plenty of other things in nature, danger can come in small packages.
