A snail quickly becomes a threat.
Hello dear friends of ecotrain, I hope you are all very well.
Today I bring you a brief article about a threat that although it is not new in our environments, it is one that can be very misleading because it can reappear in a couple of years after being eradicated.
Giant African snail
Known by the scientific name Achatina Fulica, this mollusk from the African regions of Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia has arrived in our countries in different waves in recent decades, and has become a threat to our health, the health of our pets, crops and gardens, the ecosystem and even the infrastructure itself.
The giant African snail ranges in size from 7 to 20 centimeters long, and has a very hard shell, in fact the hardest among snails due to its high iron content.
It is a dangerous pest to people because it can transmit nematode parasites of many different types, including species that affect pets and people such as Angiostrongylus cantonensis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiostrongylus_cantonensis which can cause severe cases of meningitis.
They also transmit parasites that affect plants.
They also have a really voracious appetite, in our regions they can feed on more than 500 different types of plants and eat quite a lot, which makes them a danger to crops and gardens.
But their appetite does not stop there, as they can also eat the carrion of dead animals, they even like bones for their high calcium content, if forced they can eat paper, cardboard and even the paint and stucco of walls which makes them cause damage to buildings.
They can even become predators as they can eat other species of smaller snails and slugs.
Excellent survivors.
The giant African snail pest is difficult to control due to the fact that apart from being able to eat everything and in large quantities, they have a complete survival toolkit. They have a complete survival toolkit that seems incredible.
For starters, if they eat a lot, but if there is no food. They can go into a kind of hibernation state by locking themselves in their shell and building a wall of coralaceous material that seals them off from the outside. They can remain like this without food or water for up to 2 years....
They also reproduce very fast, a snail can lay up to 1200 eggs a year, which hatch in 17 days. And they can live between 3 and 5 years.
All African giant snails are simultaneous hermaphrodites, that is, they have both male and female reproductive organs. So it only takes one other snail to have a pair in which both lay eggs.
Although they cannot fertilize themselves, after copulation they can store their partner's sperm for use for almost 2 years.
Although they are a species that thrives best in tropical climates, specimens have been found in colder places such as Argentina and the northern states of the United States.
Search and destroy
When we talk about ecology, we usually try to preserve the life of other living beings, but in this case the right thing to do for the environment is to destroy giant snails wherever we see them, since they are an invasive species that damages the balance of nature.
For such purposes, agricultural chemicals with metaldehyde are recommended.
A more direct approach can also be taken by pouring 2 cups of salt and a gallon of water into a bucket, capturing the snails and throwing them in the bucket and covering them for 48 hours.
Another option similar to the previous one is to replace the salt with Chlorine, which is more effective since in 24 hours you will have eliminated both the snails and their egg sacs.
The giant snail is a predominantly nocturnal animal. It keeps hidden under layers of leaves, logs, rocks or crevices during the day and comes out to feed at night, although it can be found in open fields on rainy or cloudy days.
As a curious note we can add that in some Asian countries fried giant snail pieces are considered the best appetizer in a night of drinks and that one of the ways of entry to the Americas was its use as offerings in religious rituals.
Conclusion.
The giant African snail has now spread to many islands in the Pacific Ocean and from the northern United States through the Americas to Argentina, and everywhere it has been considered a threat, even in states where it has already been eradicated twice, a reward of 50 cents is still offered for every pound of snail delivered to the authorities. Which speaks volumes about the danger it poses. So while destroying lives is not the best thing to do. In this case it is the healthiest thing for the planet, so wherever you see the giant snail please. Destroy it or turn it over to the authorities.
Recommended Bibliographic Reference
[2] Ilegal snails santería story
[4] Achatina fulica