Florida Hit By Outbreak Of Giant Land Snails

Hello ats.

my source

A growing infestation of dangerous giant snails is threatening to damage buildings and spread illness through southern Florida, experts fear. The animals, which can grow to the size of a rabbit, are eating through plaster in the walls of buildings as they attempt to consume the huge amounts of calcium they need to grow their shells.

Did I read that correctly? The snails can grow to be the size of a rabbit!!!!

According to experts, the shells of the snails often grow to a length of 15cm (6ins) with a diameter of 9cm (3.5ins) but some have been known to grow up to 30cm by 15cm (12ins by 6ins). In Caribbean countries, where the snails have become a major problem, they have even been known to pose a hazard to vehicles by causing blowouts of tyres.

Gardeners have also been injured as the animals have been turned into dangerous projectiles by lawnmowers.

I'm sorry but....

The snail outbreak is just the latest in a series of invasions by foreign species, including the well-known infestation by giant Burmese pythons, which became established in the Everglades in 2000.

Why would anybody move to FL.? Between the tourists, the alligators, the snakes and the humidity it seems like hell. Now there are giant snails and you know what that means the French will be there soon......

Can they be eaten? Cooked with garlic?
Some snails can be. I had the small ones like that once. Pretty good stuff.
If they can be eaten, then those folks will have a free food source for a while.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Dunno but that's why I said the French will be next.

ahhh...some fava beans and a nice chianti to go with those large escargot sauted in butter and garlic ...the parasite would worry me though, I can just picture in my mind these small eel-like worms chewing through the lining of my intestinal wall, all the while I figured it was just gas.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
Can they be eaten? Cooked with garlic?
Some snails can be. I had the small ones like that once. Pretty good stuff.
If they can be eaten, then those folks will have a free food source for a while.

Well, if they get that big, you ought to be able to slice them up into steaks.

Yummm. Snail steaks. I do like escargot.

Gets me to thinking...
Why doesn't Monsanto do something that would endear them to the public...

Like genetically engineer a lobster tree that will grow in a temperate climate, my backyard in other words. "I'll be right back honey, I am going to pull a couple of tails off the tree for dinner."

eww. This thread has made me laugh out loud and also gag, in two short minutes.

There are just some things that I don't know if I'd eat to survive. Earthworms. Slugs and snails. Grubs. Spiders and ants. Eyeballs and brains. Glands *shudders*. I used to love chorizo til I found a package that actually listed what parts of 'pork' are in it.
Ew, sorry. I'll just graze on grass and look for wild berries til I croak, thanks very much.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
Can they be eaten? Cooked with garlic?
Some snails can be. I had the small ones like that once. Pretty good stuff.
If they can be eaten, then those folks will have a free food source for a while.

That was my first impression too I gotta stop thinking about food all the time I ate snails one time I don't like eating live oysters or swallowing a live smelt either.

www.guardian.co.uk...

yummy,.
apparently they are edible..

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
www.guardian.co.uk...

yummy,.
apparently they are edible..

After reading that 'less than glowing' report, I am not sure that I want to eat them.
I wish the video that was linked in the story would have played for me.

reply to post by rickymouse

swallowing a live smelt either.

I never swallowed a whole live smelt, but I have eaten several bites of a live smelt, fresh out of Lake Champlain. It was much too large to eat whole.
It wasn't bad at all, I would recommend it to anyone that cares for sushi.

reply to post by billy565

Its hard to imagine anyone getting hurt by a snail.

I remember reading somewhere that there was a giant snail infestation somewhere in asia and to control it they brought in another kind of snail to eat that one only to have it go after native snails and making things worse. so thats off the table I guess. From the looks off it I guess eating them out of there may be the best option.

ok, just a word of caution!....eating raw seafood CAN KILL YOU!!!!...you don't know of the microscopic organisms that are in most of the seafood out there....google is your friend

reply to post by butcherguy
yeah sorry for you,
it plays on my end,. an english chef goes to a store and buys some of the snails
takes them to another restaurant and cooks them up in oil and veggies, not eating them raw.

of course after cracking them outta the shells and cleaning them of guts and shell..

so there you have it Florida,.. eat up

reply to post by grey9438


I've heard of that kind of thing, not that specific story, where the solution is worse than if they let nature take its course.

reply to post by butcherguy


Sounds very similar to the land crabs in Grand Cayman, when it rains they come out and cause motorist accidents so the native populations eats them.
mmmm crab with lots of garlic butter

reply to post by billy565


well this is another one Ive heard of, that eating a species out works, squids invaded the sea of cortez and in order to get rid of them the government is trying to fish them out of there and its supposed to be working.

Stock up on lots of salt!!!

reply to post by butcherguy


I was drinking with some friends and we went smelting back in the early seventies. The first person who caught a smelt had to bite off the head. It was so small I decided to swallow it whole instead Wow, when it hit the stomach acid it was all over the place. Worse than swallowing whole live oysters

Originally posted by rickymouse
reply to post by butcherguy

 

I was drinking with some friends and we went smelting back in the early seventies. The first person who caught a smelt had to bite off the head. It was so small I decided to swallow it whole instead

Wow, when it hit the stomach acid it was all over the place. Worse than swallowing whole live oysters

Holy smelt!
How did you keep it down, all swimming around like that!
OMG, I think I would have puked.

Saw a show about the squid, and a restaurant on the coast is making a killing, literally.
The owner said his idea about the squid is "If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em."
Sounds good to me.
I don't know about snails that large being eaten, though. Can they dissect out just the muscles? It's why I don't eat oysters...I remember biology and don't want to eat all their parts.