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Texas Gardening

Giant African snail found in Houston ...

roselee z8b S.W. Texas

11 years ago

Not wanting to be an alarmist, but be aware that the giant African snail that is wrecking havoc on agriculture in Florida and other places has been found in Houston.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130417-giant-african-land-snail-florida-invasive-science-animals/

Here is a link that might be useful: News Story on African snail.in Houston ...

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Comments (21)

surfbreeze
11 years ago
That is scary stuff. I read a couple of weeks ago how quickly they are multiplying in Florida.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes, I read it on the National Geographic site. The link above doesn't seem to work. Maybe this one will.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Giant African snails on N. G.
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mike from maine...sorry but its a gross daymare feeling for me to think this might be considered a "pet". So does this picture mean that the snails are visiting domesticly in Maine currently ? If you have these for eating remember to cook it well as disease can transfer... never did snails....I once ordered a plate of perwinkles, but I just coulnt bring myself to take that first bite. I can eat clams though.LOL Thanks for the post...hopefuly its not from here in Maine. I just cant get rid of the visualization of a huge snail slime trail on the table top in the picture. It takes a while to get that slime off with just regular snails slime.
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That is an excellent piece of the puzzle KT. It fits with the likely consequences of shifts in vegetation patterns due to warming at the end of the Pleistocene period and inability to adapt to shrinking habitat. Researchers in Australia recently revisited Darling Downs. This is what they found: "By systematically analysing a 10 metre deep section of creek bed, the team uncovered 44 species, ranging from land snails, frogs, lizards and small mammals to giant wombats and kangaroos including many species previously unknown to have occurred in the Darling Downs fossil record. The results suggest that the extinction of Darling Downs megafauna was caused by a massive shift in climate rather than by the arrival of humans who over hunted animals or destroyed habitats by burning the landscape. The findings, which were unearthed with the help of amateur fossil hunter, Ian Sobbe, are of particular significance because the Darling Downs fossil deposits are among the youngest Australian megafauna deposits - laid down on the cusp of the extinction event. [snip] The Darling Downs contain some of the most extensive and significant Pleistocene megafauna deposits in Australia but because it's been excavated since the 1840s it was assumed that the palaeoenvironment record was well established. Closer examination revealed a bias in sample collection in favour of larger animals and there had been few attempts to document ecological and sediment data." See link for full text. The N.A. overkill hypothesis doesn't account for the birds lost at the same percentage of the megafauna. Who knows what else that may have been overlooked. Even more suspect is the fact that Martin's theory is based on the land bridge hypothesis which isn't supported by any evidence, yet has become gospel. Here is a link that might be useful: alert
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Yes they do, unfortunately (but not all types) In answer to the pellets isse that has been raised... I also think slug pellets are fine for just those first few vunerable weeks as has been said above... I also strongly suspect that birds not only do not eat them, but they don't eat the dead slugs either. They're clever! Even if they do, well, I think its justified for a short time. I don't have a dog and don't use them in the front garden. Once a plant is big (eg my delphiniums now) I don't put any pellets there as its no longer vunerable (but did so 4 weeks ago) - I don't mind, and think one should except, a few chomps on the leaves now and again once the plant is a bit bigger. I just have a few pellets now next to my young dahlia cuttings and marigold seedlings, but I'll stop soon once they are a decent size. I'll only restart in summer if they start to decimate anything. BTW I go out every morning to dispose of dead slugs to minimise chances of birds eating them though clearly 'the early bird' could well have got there first. I do suspect, as I said above, given I find dead slugs when I go out, that the birds avoid them.... Noticable how on Gardeners World by the way how they're doing a 'slug trial' to test how different methods and products protect a plant. The one thing they are not using is slug pellets. I have to say they are conspicuous by their absence and this is very censorious and unobjective - I wouldn't mind Monty saying his reasons for not using pellets himself - but I think it was wrong and censorious to ommitt them from the trial.
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eahamel
10 years ago
Link above worked for me. This is really scary. Beats chili thrips even, and they're bad enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: giant snails in Houston
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
We had some giant snails about that size in Hawaii. Well,maybe they weren't THAT big. I do not know if they are one and the same. Kids loved to jump on them and some of us ATE them. Some one says these are a delicacy too..That is how they got to Brazil. Someone was farming them.

This post was edited by wantonamara on Wed, May 8, 13 at 18:52
ExoticRGVNativesTy
10 years ago
I just came across an article that states the snail found in Houston was misidentified and was in reality a native Rosy Wolf Snail. Interestingly, this predatory species has been introduced in other parts of the world, including Hawaii, to control the African Land Snail. It is considered an invasive species elsewhere but very beneficial in our state.

Here is a link that might be useful: Misidentified Giant Snail Terrorizes Texas
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
10 years ago
That's great news! Now we all know more about the Giant African snail than we ever wanted to know ... :-)
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
I love the part where they state that the Giant African snail has the annoying habit of eating lots of plants and STUCCO HOUSES. Now that's annoying! LOL.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
10 years ago
Very annoying! Sounds like something out of a science fiction movie.
angiedfw
10 years ago
Yes, but are they edible? I LOVE escargot, and free ones would be awesome! :D
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
They were being farmed in Brazil for escargot. the worms though are a little scary but HEY we ate pork with trichinosis for millennium.
beachplant
10 years ago
Mara, it is the same ones in Hawaii. I remember seeing them crawling across the sidewalk, they were bigger than my hand. GROSS! That was in Honolulu.
Tally HO!
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
I handled them lots and never got sick and died. I ate them cooked in wine and butter. They were always running across my yard. No one was really freaked out about them. But that was back in the day when people didn't get riled very easily. Then again, it was Hawaii and everyone is too relaxed and living life island style to get riled about much. White fly got their attention.
bossjim1
10 years ago
You could sprain an ankle trying to squish one of those.
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
IT took two feet and man what a squish! Yuck. The Buffo frogs were huge and poisonous too.
robyn_tx
10 years ago
These snail are freaking scary! I like all my little garden creatures (well, except flying palmetto bugs which are the only thing on the planet that will prompt me to get a can of something to spray and kill!) ... but I can do without these Snails on Steroids anywhere near me or my garden. Omigosh! I heard a story on NPR or somewhere recently about them and they apparently do a great deal of damage. Along the lines of the darned zebra mussels or the giant pythons.

Invasive species - yuck!!!
kiko_gw
10 years ago
robyn, aren't Palmetto bugs really just American cockroaches? I'm curious why some people call them palmetto bugs? [I'm from Denver originally]
merrybookwyrm
10 years ago
How wonderful that snail was misidentified. Eat them or not eat them, African snails are needed in North America. NOT.

This post was edited by merrybookwyrm on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 11:46
patty_cakes
10 years ago
I hate when a snail gets a bad rap! ;o)
robyn_tx
10 years ago
Kiko - the nickname of Palmetto bugs is maybe just something from the south, though I do think there is a difference between the two bugs. All I know is that when one is flying at me when I'm enjoying music and wine on my porch at night, I do the girl thing and freak. I really hate, HATE, those things. Armed with boric acid every year, I swear I'm going to prevent one from landing in my hair ... alas, I've never succeeded yet. :)
beachplant
10 years ago
I hate those dang palmetto bugs too! Yeah, ,they are a roach. EEEWWWW!

We just got a call from a lady in Spring who found one of these in her yard. We gave her the phone # for Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Tally HO!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
10 years ago
Laughing! It's 'wildlife' alright!

My poodle dog Sport goes after them big time and keeps the house cleared.

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