Giant Snails Attack Miami!

[jimmy olsen]

Will Mothra be next?

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/15/2409202/giant-snails-invade-miami-subdivision.html#ixzz1YAfrwccE

Giant snails invade Miami subdivision, spur local alert

Officials are trying to locate and remove the specimens, one of the most damaging snail species in the world

By Lomi Kriel
[email protected]

The silent, slithery invasion of an army of Giant African Snails in a southwest Miami subdivision has federal and state agricultural officials launching a time-consuming expensive counter-attack to remove the large slimy creatures.

"It's us against the snails," said Richard Gaskalla, director of plant industry at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The snails, of the species Achatina fulica, can grow up to 10 inches long and four inches wide and are considered one of the most damaging land snails in the world. They eat at least 500 different types of plants, lay about 1,200 eggs a year, and can carry a strain of non-fatal meningitis. Prolific breeders, they contain both female and male reproductive organs and live as long as nine years.

They can be particularly devastating to agricultural areas and ecosystems and result in trade bans. Hailing from Eastern Africa, the snails are only allowed into the United States with special permits and for scientific research.

Two sisters alerted officials to the invasion last week, waving down a fruit fly inspector conducting a routine check. The siblings had tired of the pests, who love cool, dark spots, thrive in limestone, concrete and cement, and are drawn to recycling boxes, compost heaps, and cat food.

Standing on the corner of Southwest 28th Street and 34th Avenue Thursday, Gaskalla and his team were meticulously combing through the neighborhood he termed "Ground Zero" in the attack. About 50 state and federal officials are going house-by-house, removing the slimy pests by plastic-gloved hand. The process is slow and time-consuming.

So far, officials have found about 1,000 within a one-square-mile radius. The mollusks are transferred to freezers in an effort at "humane death," Gaskalla said.

When Victoria Loyacono and her family moved in last month, they noticed the snails on their wall, "all over, there wasn't one clear spot." Officials said they are investigating whether the creatures might have come from the previous resident, who recently moved out of the house.

Authorities also are trying to determine if the outbreak of snails is tied to a smuggling case uncovered last year.

In 2010, federal officials opened a criminal investigation into Hialeah resident Charles L. Stewart, who was accused of smuggling the creatures here. Stewart practiced the traditional African religion Ifa Orisha, and authorities said he persuaded his followers to drink the snails' juices as part of a healing ritual. Several practitioners became violently ill.

Stewart was allegedly aided by a woman claiming to be an African priestess who hid snails under her dresses on flights to Miami, according to search warrants filed in the case, which remains open.

It's the third time these pests have been discovered in South Florida. In 1966, a boy visiting Hawaii brought back three to Miami and his grandmother released them into her garden. Soon, there were at least 18,000 slithering about. It took authorities a decade and $1 million to remove those snails.

Giant African Snails can carry a virus causing a non-fatal type of meningitis, which is transferred through the feces of infected rats. None of the snails discovered in Florida carried the disease and health officials said most people recover from this strain of meningitis without symptoms. Nevertheless, they cautioned residents to refrain from touching the creatures and to wash their hands if they do.

At first, Suzanne Howland thought the snails were descending en-masse because she hadn't sprayed her garden with pesticide. Then the creatures grew. Friends admired their beautiful shells and joked about Howland, an interior designer, feasting on escargot. The snails ballooned even more.

"I had never seen anything like it," Howland said. "It was quite incredible."

Authorities are asking that anyone who spots a suspicious snail call 888-397-1517.

[The Brain]

About time too.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I was hoping for some Earth Versus The Giant Spider type monstrosities.