The Conservative Cave

Interests => Around the House & In the Garage => Topic started by: CG6468 on April 16, 2013, 07:30:05 AM

Title: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: CG6468 on April 16, 2013, 07:30:05 AM
Quote
Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Florida | Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - South Florida is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster.

More than 1,000 of the mollusks are being caught each week in Miami-Dade and 117,000 in total since the first snail was spotted by a homeowner in September 2011, said Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Residents will soon likely begin encountering them more often, crunching them underfoot as the snails emerge from underground hibernation at the start of the state's rainy season in just seven weeks, Feiber said.

The snails attack "over 500 known species of plants ... pretty much anything that's in their path and green," Feiber said.

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out tires on the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades, while their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.

"It becomes a slick mess," Feiber said.

A typical snail can produce about 1,200 eggs a year and the creatures are a particular pest in homes because of their fondness for stucco, devoured for the calcium content they need for their shells.

The snails also carry a parasitic rat lungworm that can cause illness in humans, including a form of meningitis, Feiber said, although no such cases have yet been identified in the United States.
Quote

Good old Florida…. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/14/us-usa-florida-snails-idUSBRE93D05620130414)

Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: JohnnyReb on April 16, 2013, 08:21:11 AM
Have you got any suggestions on how to tell the difference between the snails and DUmmies?.....or do we smash them all just to be sure?
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Wineslob on April 16, 2013, 09:27:47 AM
(http://www.cityfarmer.org/corry.gif)
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: BattleHymn on April 18, 2013, 05:56:16 PM
Are they edible?
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: rich_t on April 18, 2013, 05:57:24 PM
Are they edible?

Saute in garlic and butter.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: CG6468 on April 18, 2013, 09:33:04 PM
Are they edible?

Maybe, if they don't eat you first.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: ColonelCarrots on April 19, 2013, 12:41:31 PM
We've got these giant grasshoppers by my house now. They're all over.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Dori on April 19, 2013, 12:48:29 PM
Northern Calif. in the redwoods is full of banana slugs.  They are the second largest in the world.





Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: JohnnyReb on April 20, 2013, 01:04:59 PM
Northern Calif. in the redwoods is full of banana slugs.  They are the second largest in the world.







I thought those were just high/drunk hippies......Oh well, slugs of a shell smell together.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Dori on April 20, 2013, 01:36:13 PM
I thought those were just high/drunk hippies......Oh well, slugs of a shell smell together.

Your thinking of Big Sur.  Yes, that place is nothing but hippies. 

Further north is some pretty country.  I like it because there is no mountain driving.  We camped at Elk Prairie Creek.  That's where I saw my first banana slug.  That thing was draped across the food locker and was as big and as yellow as a banana.  There were elk running through the camp and about five racoons for every camper.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Freeper on April 20, 2013, 02:03:51 PM
Turns out it was just a Grayson family reunion.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: vesta111 on April 30, 2013, 02:04:34 PM
Your thinking of Big Sur.  Yes, that place is nothing but hippies. 

Further north is some pretty country.  I like it because there is no mountain driving.  We camped at Elk Prairie Creek.  That's where I saw my first banana slug.  That thing was draped across the food locker and was as big and as yellow as a banana.  There were elk running through the camp and about five racoons for every camper.

We do not see too may slugs up here.   I have seen a few but they are very small.  We are told to place a tin in the garden if we see one and fill it with beer, Slugs will crawl in and drown.   

Problem is is if you have a large garden and put out too many the drunk next door will be found crawling through the garden trying to get to the booze before the slugs.

Why on earth anyone wants to live in Florida is beyond me, huge snakes, alligators and now foot ball size slugs eating up peoples homes, not to mention sink holes.   
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: tiny1 on April 30, 2013, 02:32:06 PM
Have you got any suggestions on how to tell the difference between the snails and DUmmies?.....or do we smash them all just to be sure?
Shoot 'em with a bb gun.  The one that runs quickest, is the snail.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: BattleHymn on April 30, 2013, 05:37:56 PM
Shoot 'em with a bb gun.  The one that runs quickest, is the snail.

 :rofl:H5
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Ptarmigan on May 03, 2013, 08:51:37 PM
Plot by bunnies.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Wineslob on May 07, 2013, 02:15:59 PM
(http://collegevisits.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/banana-slug.jpg)


Used em for bait once. The Trout went nutz.
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Dori on May 07, 2013, 02:22:21 PM
(http://collegevisits.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/banana-slug.jpg)


Used em for bait once. The Trout went nutz.

How big are your trout?   :thinking:
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: Wineslob on May 07, 2013, 04:10:47 PM
How big are your trout?   :thinking:


Only 1. Wanna see?




 O-)
Title: Re: Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails
Post by: thundley4 on May 07, 2013, 05:47:15 PM
(http://collegevisits.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/banana-slug.jpg)


Used em for bait once. The Trout went nutz.

We use regular garden slugs for bait, catfish like them.