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Don't touch this giant snail if you see it

StupidJerk

StupidJerk

http://usnews.nbcnew...in-houston?lite
Deadly giant snail found in Houston


Residents of a Houston neighborhood are being warned to stay away from giant African land snails after a woman found one in her garden and snapped a photo of it.
The snails, researchers warn, are potentially dangerous to touch, in part because they can carry meningitis. Scientists have warned anyone who comes in contact with them to wash their hands thoroughly.
"They also carry a parasitic disease that can cause a lot of harm to humans and sometimes even death," Autumn Smith-Herron, director of the Institute for the Study of Invasive Species at Sam Houston State University, told NBC Houston affiliate KPRC.
A woman gardening in the Briar Forest neighborhood of Houston found the snail and notified workers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center who deal with invasive plants. It is the first reported sighting of the mollusk in Texas, and no one seems to know how it got there.
The giant snails can lay 100 eggs per month, and though only one has been found, it is believed more are in the area.
Jack Fendrick, who lives near where the slimy giant was discovered, said he will do his part to warn of the potentially deadly snails.
"I think most kids especially would look at a big snail and want to touch it," he said. "That's scary."
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I know there are some people here from near Houston. There is no way in hell I would ever touch that thing, but I thought I'd share this in case you are the kind of person who sees this horrible monstrosity in your garden and wants to fondle it.

edit:
I guess it's happening in Florida as well.
land-snails.jpg

http://www.reuters.c...E93D05620130414

The invasion started in 2011 and they eat plants, stucco, and pop tires.

"The last known Florida invasion of the giant mollusks occurred in 1966, when a boy returning to Miami from a vacation in Hawaii brought back three of them, possibly in his jacket pockets. His grandmother eventually released the snails into her garden where the population grew in seven years to 17,000 snails. The state spent $1 million and 10 years eradicating them."



That article says no cases of contracting the disease from a snail in the US have been reported.

Is this story well known? I hadn't heard it before.
 
Yes they're here and eatting away homes in Miami, so far none in Lauderdale that I know of. Various stories out there for years now AFAIK ...
 
I like escargot, but I have a feeling these guys aren't so tasty. Even if they are, it probably isn't worth the meningitis.
 
Does salt do the trick on these buggers like it does on slugs? Arm the neighborhood kids with Morton's and let 'em go to it! :lol:
 
PepperWhisperer said:
What kind of idiot releases snails into the garden?
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How true, also they should have never allowed someone to bring it in, I just don't get it they come down on plant importers but heck you can import all kinds of animals that later cause issues. Years ago I saw little green iguanas for sale in many stores down here, only 2 bucks. Today we have the worst issues with these bastards, all the idiots who bought them later released them when they realized they grow to 6 feet.

PepperWhisperer said:
Hey, I found this ravenous mountain lion, I think I'll release it ...
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Lion to protect my peppers, now that's bad azz :D ;)
 
Okay okay the news are idiots. Here is the real story behind these snails!! They hitched a ride on a cargo ship from Africa to the Caribbean. They showed up in Barbados I think about 12 years ago and slowly jumped Island to Island. We had them in St Lucia for over a decade and they seriously harmed agriculture there. They slowly jumped up the island chain and recently made it to Florida. They crawl everywhere and it isn't hard for them to hitch rides on planes and boats to me the short sea jump from island to island all the way up to the US. Apparently they are eating them now in the Caribbean but like any other raw animal they can carry disease but I won't go so far as to say don't touch them.
 
I thought a magnifying glasses were best for most bugs,entertainment wise.

After your done the bug is cooked,no nasty diseases to deal with.
 
smokemaster (Now I have to wonder if there is some correlation to your login name and the previous comment??? :lol: ) salt=

anyway, if you tried to do that to one of those giant snails, it'd take ya all week~ :lol: salt is much easier, but probably messier...


I prolly shouldn't admit this, but one time, my mom paid me .01 each to go around the yard and pick up slugs. Our yard was about an acre. Mom couldn't believe it when I presented her with over 250 slugs in a plastic bread bag.

Took me an hour to scrub all the slime off my hands....
 
Like everything else - it stops working when you let the smoke out. LOL

The whole point is ENTERTAINMENT VALUE. (Evil grin)

Sprinkling salt around isn't much fun.
Might kill your plants in the area too.

First ya burn holes in the shell....Then ya cook the eyes.....or visa versa.
Takes hand control focusing the glass...

I've been on jury duty the last few years (it seems) no end in sight - I can think of a few Lawyers I'd like to take a magnifying glass to right now.
I guess they are closer to slugs than snails though...Don't think salt would work...

They fry my brain every day lately....

I'm thinking about sprinkling some butch T powder on their Briefs...both kinds. LOL
Move to strike-SIDE BAR......my XXXX fill in the blank,are burning.....

I have a master plan to get even.(Courts going to last AT least another Century).

Chicken Quarters are $.69 LB. this week.

I'm going to buy about 20-30 lbs. tomorrow and smoke them Sunday/Monday.

Sweet soy,Honey mapple and my favorite-mole type rub.

Bring all 3 flavors into the jury room to treat the jury,Judge(semi cool-FOR A JUDGE),Clerk (very cool),Recorder, and Bailiff.
Place will smell great.No mercy for the Lawyers until the jury room etc. airs out.
Can't show favoritism by giving Lawyers or anyone else Lunch.

Can't wait to see the lawyers drooling from the smell of my goodies.

Judge lets us bring in stuff to drink etc. as long as it doesn't disrupt the court.
I'll tie a quarter hanging around my neck in the jury box just to re enforce my message.

If I don't think they are suffering enough I'll smoke some KILLER brisket for Pastromi next.

I work nights(18 yrs),when the sun and I are up at the same time,IF I'm not on my boat or smoking something NOTHING good can EVER happen to or for me when the sun is up.
Some ones gotta pay the price. LOL

Back to the subject:
We had a Cockapoo (SP?) that loved chomping down on snails when I was a kid.
Mom tried to stop her but she loved them.
I've heard several people say their Poodle or mix,breed of poodle also loved snails as a snack.
BUT I guess,other than full fledged poodles,Texans probably aren't into lap dogs in general.
They might have less snail eating mini poodles than other places.
Then again,there are a lot of the filthy rich from the oil industry living there that might love the teacup dogs but they only let their feet touch the ground when the dogs gotta poop.
The dog might love snails IF they ever got a chance to try one. :)

I tried snails once,don't like them.
Don't like Limpets either.Same taste.

I usually don't eat something I can step on/run over or gets stuck in a sticky trap(grasshoppers /Crickets/ants).
Chocolate covered or not.

Objection-SIDEBAR- I let the smoke out of wood but ONLY so the material in the smoker can absorb it.
Objection over ruled....Refrase the question or move on.....while the Judge,Clerk and Bailiff licks the finishing sauce off their fingers....
 
Sounds like a job for mr. Propane torch. My dad used to give us torches to go after all the tent worms and ravenous caterpillars.
On a separate note, a few years back somebody caught a piranha in a lake near me by DC where kids swim. Gotta wonder what people are thinking.
 
smokemaster is on a roll... but he still has internet access so he's not on jury lockdown yet. Wear an article of clothing that has been exposed to chile powders, hot sauces, used while cooking up some sauce....etc....
 
smokemaster said:
I work nights(18 yrs),when the sun and I are up at the same time,IF I'm not on my boat or smoking something NOTHING good can EVER happen to or for me when the sun is up.
Some ones gotta pay the price. LOL
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Right there with you. Work just collapsed third shift(to save money) and moved me to first shift, but I was job hunting(need perm not temp) and they knew that anyway. 2 week notice is in and things have seemingly gotten strange when the sun is up.



And aren't poodles French??
 
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