The snail can grow up to eight inches long, and can potentially carry the parasite rat lungworm, which may cause meningitis in humans and animals. The snail should not be handled without gloves because of the meningitis risk.
The snails can lay over 2,500 eggs in just one year, making the population difficult to contain. Florida has successfully eradicated the giant African land snail twice before, in 1975 and 2021.
It would help if the article in some way could indicate which part of the world the snail invaded Broward county is.
I imagine it’s Australia with megapests and English language, right?
It’s Florida, in the United States. The article is from a local news station, which is probably why they don’t mention their own state. Sorry for the confusion!
@Exaggeration207 @maynarkh confusing Florida for Australia is pretty much presumed with both being sun beaten places where wildlife that would shock the rest of humanity is quaint daily life of their respective people.
Hit Australian comedy Kath & Kim was remade in America and was set in Florida… only got one season in the US
The American version of Kath & Kim taught us how not to do a TV remake
what an excruciatingly awful idea
Oh god there are few things I can imagine that sound worse than an American attempt at Kath&Kim
I’m pretty sure African Land Snails are one of those animals that get imported as “pets” by rich idiots, and this is why they are in florida now.
Could also be eggs that hitched a ride on something else, but some people love mega-snails, so.
@Lowbird I suspect that it didn’t take that much money to get one of these as a pet, it was probably a bunch of middle class Florida men/women that this “genius” move. I’m just challenging the “rich idiots” with the likelihood that not so rich idiots are to blame
It’s not a 100% indicator, but I checked the URL and it said nbcmiami; Miami’s in Florida USA so that’s where I figured the county would be located
The article says “SOUTH FLORIDA” in big letters at the top for me…
It’s a local news site.