Parts of Florida are now under quarantine after the return of giant snails. No, they aren’t slowly sliming their way across Miami covering everything with their nastiness, they are African Land Snails and they carry a parasite that can cause Meningitis in humans and they are extremely damaging to native plants. It’s now illegal to move certain items out of the quarantine area, including plants and soil.
Recently, 90 Giant African Land Snails were seized by U.S. customs in Detroit when a man from Ghana tried to sneak them into the country. No, they weren’t stuffed down his pants. They were discovered when a customs agent, and everyone around him noticed a foul stench coming from one of his bags. The snails were subsequently seized and humanely euthanized as a means to ensure they did not enter the ecosystem and cause havoc to U.S. agriculture as they have a massive appetite and can cause major crop damage, as well as being a threat to humans, and even causing damage to stucco housing, eating the stucco to meet their calcium needs for shell growth. The snails can grow up to 9 inches long.
