South Florida is full of exotic animal invaders who have found a home in our hot, humid climate. Iguanas, pythons, tegu lizards and now giant African land snails can all be found here.
The snails showed up in Miami in 2011, and have now spread as far north as Davie.
Despite their slow speed, these snails spread quickly because they can lay as many as 300 eggs per month, they have no natural predators here, and they eat just about everything that grows in this environment.
"That includes everything we grow as food," said Mark Fagan of the Florida Department of Agriculture. His agency has taken the lead in fighting the slimy pest.
Now they have two new weapons: Bear and Sienna, two dogs trained to sniff out giant African land snails. NBC 6 watched the dogs find snails which had been hidden in a wooded area.
The eradication teams are also using a poison which kills only snails, spreading it only in areas in which the snails have been found.
"We have made a tremendous amount of progress in that originally we were finding 1,000 or 2,000 snails per day. Now there are days we go and don't find any snails," Fagan said.
Local
Besides eating 500 different kinds of Florida plants, the snails also carry a parasitic nematode which is dangerous to humans. Exposure to it can cause an incurable type of meningitis.
"That causes other neurological issues like going blind and going deaf," Fagan explained. "All from that parasite."
The snails have been found in 29 areas of South Florida. They are easily distinguishable from native snails because they are much, much bigger. Their brown mottled shells can be over four inches long, and the animal inside can protrude another four or five inches.
If you spot one, call 888-397-1517. The Agriculture Department will send an agent out to see what it is. If you have to touch it, wear gloves to minimize the risk of exposure to that nasty nematode parasite.
