Giant snail invades Florida again GP

After ten years of work, it was considered last year that work to eradicate the giant African snail in Florida was completed. The effort in Miami-Dade County cost $23 million, about a quarter of a billion dollars, and resulted in the collection of 170,000 snails.

But now it seems that the sticky intruder is back on a larger scale. The discovery was made recently in Pasco County, where 1,000 snails have already been collected.

– We will eliminate these snails. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again, says Nikki Fried, president of the Florida Department of Agriculture.

The giant African snail, which can grow up to 20 cm, is one of the most destructive pests in the world. It is not difficult to understand why.

Snails can eat 500 different species of plants, but they also love gypsum and lime in buildings for their large shells. They reproduce quickly and produce about 1,200 eggs per year, which makes getting rid of them difficult. Since the snail is bisexual, it can also fertilize itself.

The giant African snail is also not harmful to humans. It carries a lungworm parasite that can cause meningitis which is rare.