http://www.click2houston.com/giant-...ton/-/1736084/20042282/-/vqai3yz/-/index.html <object name="kaltura_player_1367965166" id="kaltura_player_1367965166" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all" allowFullScreen="true" height="345" width="560" data="http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_eg90l7en/uiconf_id/12411302"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_eg90l7en/uiconf_id/12411302"/><param name="flashVars" value=""/><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com">video platform</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/video_platform/video_management">video management</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/solutions/video_solution">video solutions</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/video_platform/video_publishing">video player</a></object> HOUSTON - A giant African land snail was discovered in the back yard of a Houston home and now researchers are sending out a warning. "Unfortunately, humans are picking the snails up," said Dr. Autumn J. Smith-Herron, the director of the Institute for the Study of Invasive Species at Sam Houston State University. "They carry a parasitic disease that can cause a lot of harm to humans and sometimes even death." The parasite is called rat lungworm which is a form of meningitis. Humans should not come in contact with the snail and need to wash their hands thoroughly if they do. A woman who lives on Twin Circle Drive in west Houston spotted a big snail in her backyard garden and snapped a picture of it. She notified workers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center who deal with invasive plants. They contacted researchers at Sam Houston State University. This is the first known possible spotting of a giant snail in Texas and no one knows how it got here. They reproduce rapidly and can lay 1,200 eggs a year. If confirmed as a Giant African snail, it's likely there are more. However, the reported snail got away before anyone was able to capture it. "That's crazy," said Jack Fendrick, who lives on Twin Circle Drive and hadn't heard about the rare finding. "I think most people, kids especially, will see a big snail and want to touch it. With meningitis as one of the side effects, that's scary." Researchers are going to send teams to the Houston area to look for more. In the meantime, if you happen to spot one, call the Institute for the Study of Invasive Species at 936-294-3788. For more information, you can also visit their website. The Institute for the Study of Invasive Species is working to confirm whether it was a Giant African snail. The USDA is also launching an investigation into the snail.
Maybe I am somewhat of a wuss, but the last thing I would do when I encounter a giant freaking snail would be to pick it up and play with it.
Read about these things a while ago. Apparently their shells can puncture tires and act as shrapnel if you go over them with a lawn mower. They really are a serious problem since they reproduce so fast. I think when I see I'll set it on fire then put it on a stick to send a message to the rest of 'em.
Was just reading about these on Wikipedia and some people keep them as pets and some West African groups raise them as food. I am guessing this snail was someone's pet that got away.
I heard about these things a few weeks ago. At the time, it was just reported that they were an epidemic in south Florida. Those things move quick. In the news report about Florida, they mentioned the state had hired a few dozen people whose sole job was to find these things. In just a couple of days, they had found over 100,000.
A lot of the problems we've been seeing the last several years have been created by "pets that got away," and "Aquatic plants that got dumped in the local lakes, streams, etc., by folks oblivious to the dangers." In other words, huge problems caused by hobbyists and pet owners who bought these damn things and didn't have a clue that they were really ticking time bombs. And this is coming from someone who had large aquariums back before we had massive aquatic plant infestations all over the place, and bizarre critters that aren't native to these parts.
This snail was actually used as a food reserve in WWII by American soldiers, but they escaped from where they were harvesting them. They tried to control them by introducing carnivorous snails, but those snails ate a different species of snail instead. Even if that story isn't true I still like it.
An African Giant snail was moving along the beach when he happened to look back behind him and saw three turtles wearing leather jackets. After moving along for about four weeks, the massive snail looked back again and saw that the three turtles were still there and closing in on him. So, the snail picked up his pace. After about six more weeks, the snail looked back again, and saw that the turtles were still chasing him. And they were getting closer and closer! So, he kept on going as fast as he could. After another few weeks, the turtles finally caught up with the snail and mugged him, took all of his clothes and the keys to his car. After another couple of weeks, the snail got to a pay phone and called the police. "I`ve been mugged by three turtles wearing leather jackets! You need to get down here and take a report or do something!" he said. "Can you give us a description of the turtles?" asked the police officer. "No, I can`t. It all happened too fast!" cried the snail.
