Page 40 - Fourways Gardens March 2021

Nature

the

GLoBetRottinG

GiAnt AfRicAn

LAnd snAiL

is it a cute snail on steroids,

or a threat to the world

environment?

B y Josh t ruter, Pho t os B y Josh t ruter,
k en W alker and t i M ur v . v oronk o v

n 1966, a kid from Miami, Florida, brought three giant snails
home, smuggled in his luggage all the way from Hawaii. For
whatever reason, he thought they would make cool gifts for his
Igrandmother. Perhaps Grandma was one of those ‘off the wall’
kinds of people but this time round she was not impressed with the
new pets, so she threw them out into her garden. Seven years later,
the Florida Department of Agriculture estimated there were more
than 18 000 of these exotic invasive pests in the state, wreaking
havoc on crops and causing damage to buildings. It took them
more than a decade to eradicate them, only to see a resurgence
in 2011. To date, they are still fighting the battle to save Florida’s
agricultural industry from the plague of snails.

Fourways Gardens • 38 • March 2021