Rat-Sized Snails Invade Florida

Florida's year-round warm weather is not just appealing to tourists. The giant African land snail is posing a risk to the state's vegetation, as it proliferates in the hot, humid climate, wildlife officials warn.

Florida has a reputation for unusual creatures taking hold, from poisonous toads to pythons.

But wildlife officials are particularly concerned about the threat of the African land snail to native plants and Florida farms, according to National Geographic.

So far the giant African land snail has been found primarily in Miami-Dade, but it is reproducing so fast that officials are concerned that it may infest other parts of the Sunshine State, including New Port Richey.

Department of Agriculture staff have been placing traps across Tampa Bay to intercept the African land snail before it takes hold. Officials are asking people to be on the lookout.

Anyone who believes that he or she has encountered a giant African land snail should contact the Department of Agriculture at 888-397-1517. The public is warned not to try to kill the land snail but to wait for a wildlife expert to examine the creature.

The snail is known to eat 500 different types of plants. It has made its way into the Sunshine State via smugglers, as the snails are sometimes adopted as exotic pets and are used in an Africa-influenced religious practice that has flourished in Miami-Dade.

• The snails reach adulthood at six months of age and can produce up to 100 eggs per month. They live up to eight years, growing as large as a rat.

• The snails also will consume house stucco and cement for the calcium they contain, which hardens their shells.

• They also carry disease, with parasites found in the slime of the snail, which can enter a person's body.