The giant African snail can kill you. Not because they’re giant and grow bigger than your hand. They can kill you by giving you meningitis. In Pasco County, Florida, there’s a quarantine on anything the snails have touched. People are advised not to touch them at all and wear gloves if you have to. They’ve even set up a hotline to call in sightings of……. Snails.
The Florida Agriculture Commissioner has said not to worry, they will be eradicated. That’s what they said back in the 60s when there was a snail invasion. Then again in the 70. And yet again ten years ago. Sort of sounds like a bad horror movie and the sequels doesn’t it? Think “movie Guy” voice here, “First they attacked a small Florida town in 1968 and wiped out all the hippies. Then they got into the disco groove of the 70s. Just like the Mayans predicted, they returned to take over the world in 2012. And now, there’s so many that they’re trending in Florida. They Giant deadly snails are back!”
Seriously though, besides carrying meningitis, these things eat almost all plants and even plaster and stucco off of buildings which actually makes their shells harder because of the calcium. The last time Florida tried to wipe them out, it cost $23 million.