We now have 4-ft long iguanas grazing on all our lawns, 20 foot boa constrictors in the Everglades battling with the alligators, 9-pound Gambian pouch rats on one of the keys and a gardener was already bitten by a green mamba snake from Africa. Here is the latest exotic to naturalize here in South Florida.Fla. Officials To Tour Giant Snail Areas
September 29, 2011
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Secretary Adam Putnam will be visiting South Florida Friday to tour the areas that are being infested by Giant African Land Snails.
The snails were initially discovered on September 8. Since then, the Florida Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been working together to figure out just how big the infestation has become.
So far, thousands of snails have been collected and the number of properties that have been confirmed to have the snails has risen to 85 spread across five different areas.
The Giant African land snail is one of the most damaging snails in the world because they consume at least 500 different types of plants, can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco on houses, and can carry a parasitic worm that can lead to meningitis in humans.
The snails transmit diseases to humans through consumption of raw or improperly cooked meat or by contact with human mucous membranes such as eyes, nose and mouth.
The last reported outbreak and eradication of the Giant African land snail in Florida occurred in 1966 when a boy smuggled three Giant African land snails into Miami as pets. The boy’s grandmother released the snails into her garden.
Seven years later, more than 18,000 snails were found costing more than $1 million and taking an additional 10 years to successfully eradicate this pest from Florida. This is the only known successful giant African land snail eradication program.
It’s not known how the latest outbreak started, but it’s illegal to being the snails into the US without a permit. Each snail can live as long as 9 years, and produce as many as 12 hundred eggs a year. They can grow to be 8 inches long and 4 inches around, much larger than your average snail.
The state is collecting snails when they are found, and is working through a program to use a bait called “Sluggo” to kill the snails. The bait is said to be harmless to people and pets, but lights out for slugs.
Actually, the Giant Pink Snail of Miami Beach is quite harmless
Hitskin.com
Calendar
