Giant African Land Snails have become one of the U.S.’s most persistent invasive species. They aren’t only causing California harm, but Florida as well.
The maleficent mollusks, known as GALS for short, made headlines this past Monday when it was released that 67 of them were collected at Los Angeles International Airport over a one-month period.
There does seem to be a more local problem however. These destructive snails are very present in Florida’s own Miami-Dade County.
In the three years since the snails were first discovered in the Miami area, The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has collected more than 140,000 of the pests, says Erin Gillespie the department’s press secretary.
For right now the 8-inch long snails are only located in Miami-Dade County, but if you are traveling or vacationing to that area, all Floridians need to be observant.
GALS can carry parasites that are able to give humans Meningitis. In addition to the health risks, these snails eat more than 500 different types of plants as well as building structure and stucco for calcium to build their shells.
They have no natural predators in the US and are also known to live up to nine years. Gillespie says this is where the real problem lies.
“Really what happens is they come over and multiply. These snails can produce more than 1,200 snails a year each, so what they are doing here in Florida now is multiplying,” she says.
To tackle the population problem the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer services is using methods that include but are not limited to: dog detector teams, habitat modifications, and solid waste facility inspections.
Gillespie says that Floridians can also do something to help, in addition to vigilance.
“Few snails could still come in through ports; we tell people to be very vigilant if they travel overseas, about what’s coming back into their bags. We have a program called ‘Don’t Pack A Pest,’ that tells people what kind of agricultural products you can bring back to keep Florida safe from pests and disease,” Gillespie says.
Additional information can be found at www.freshfromflorida.com .