Florida digs in for a long siege in Pasco County.
Giant African land snails — “one of the most noxious snails in the world” — have invaded the county’s second-largest city, New Port Richey, and its immediate environs. State agriculture officials say they’ve already caught more than 1,000 of the fist-sized invaders since identifying the first offender on June 23.
“Let me assure you: We will eradicate these slugs,” Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried told reporters Thursday.
Giant African land snails caught in Pasco County have light bodies and dark shells. [ Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ]
This isn’t Florida’s first brush with pests. The state thwarted two previous years-long forays around Miami-Dade County, first in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then again between 2011 and 2021. The latest battle cost $23 million.
Related: Watch out, Pascoe: Giant African land snails are coming
Giant African land snails eat hundreds of species of plants and sometimes even the stucco or plaster of buildings, which provides calcium to harden their shells. They can carry rat lungworm, a parasite known to cause meningitis in humans — making snails a real threat to humans, not just a nuisance.
So far, scientists have not found rat lungworms in any of the snails caught in Pasco, said Greg Hodges, assistant director of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industry Division. State officials have captured about 900 live snails and nearly 150 dead as of Thursday.
A Florida scientist holds a live giant African land snail from South Florida in a lab in 2014. [ Times (2014) ]
Teams scour yards around New Port Richey and drop any snails they find into buckets. They kill the living, Hodges said, then ship the carcasses to a warehouse in Gainesville.
The biggest snail they’ve taken down in Pasco so far was 4.5 inches. Snails were found in 29 properties. Authorities said the epicenter so far is Massachusetts Avenue.
But the battleground is wider: The state has created a “quarantine” zone from the northwest corner of the US 19-Ridge Road intersection, east to Little Road and south to Trouble Creek Road. They caution residents not to move snails or materials such as plants, soil, compost and yard waste from the area without a compliance agreement from the Department of Agriculture.
State officials have set up a quarantine zone near where giant African land snails have been spotted in Pasco County. People in the area need permission to move items such as plants and yard waste. [ Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ]
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There are about 30 workers on the state’s strike team, Hodges said. Two dogs are also part of the effort. The dogs are trained to sniff for snails and alert their handlers when they smell it by sitting. No one wants dogs to bite a snail and get sick.
The state puts pesticides on some properties to kill the snails. The bait is called metaldehyde. It disrupts the mucus production of the giant African land snail, causing deadly dehydration.
Related: Years of tracking giant snails cost Florida taxpayers millions
State officials warn homeowners before applying the pesticide.
A Pasco resident first noticed the infestation. They saw large snails in their yard and notified the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, which then alerted the state.
Giant African land snails attach quickly. Hodges said they may have reached Pasco a year or more ago, given how many the state has already caught.
Just one snail can generate 2,500 eggs in a year, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried discusses the state’s plans to combat the giant African land snail that has invaded Pasco County during a news conference Thursday. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
Although Florida is familiar with this battle, the Pasco snails look different than those previously found in South Florida. These snails had dark gray or brown bodies. In Pasco, Hodges said, they are cream-colored with dark shells.
The snails appear similar to a variety popular in the European pet trade, he said. According to the state, it is illegal to import or keep giant African land snails as pets without a permit. But authorities have caught people trying to bring the pests into Florida, including some that look like the snails they’re now finding in Pasco.
Still, Hodges said, the state hasn’t determined exactly how the pests got a foothold in Tampa Bay.
Greg Hodges, assistant director of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industry Division, spoke about the state’s plans to combat giant African land snails during a news conference Thursday. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
The war won’t end soon. The state can only declare victory, in this case “eradication,” two years after the last live snail is captured, Fried said.
“We will do whatever it takes,” she said.
• • •
Invasion information
For more information about snails, including how to identify pests, visit the state snail website.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried advised people not to touch the snails under any circumstances. Anyone who believes they have spotted a giant African land snail is asked to call the state’s tip line at 1-888-397-1517.
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