Rat-sized snails in Florida: Giant African snail swarms South Florida

Rat-sized giant snails
Image credit: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Florida is up for a slimy battle as rat-sized giant African land snails continue to increase its population in the Southern part of the state.

A report by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said that a thousand snails are caught weekly in Miami-Dade. In the statistics provided by Department spokeswoman Denise Feiber, she said that there are about 117,000 mollusks since September 2011.

Feiber expressed the concern of residents that the population may increase during the upcoming rainy season.

The effects on the environment is severe as the snails attack "over 500 known species of plants ... pretty much anything that's in their path and green," according to Feiber.

Reports say that these pests can lay about 1,200 eggs annually.

The Agriculture spokeswoman describe the rat-sized snails to be " huge, they move around, they look like they're looking at you ... communicating with you, and people enjoy them for that. But they don't realize the devastation they can create if they are released into the environment where they don't have any natural enemies and they thrive."