Posted on 05/07/2013 7:33:39 PM PDT by rfreedom4u
Residents of a Houston neighborhood are being warned to stay away from giant African land snails after a woman found one in her garden and snapped a photo of it.
The snails, researchers warn, are potentially dangerous to touch, in part because they can carry meningitis. Scientists have warned anyone who comes in contact with them to wash their hands thoroughly.
"They also carry a parasitic disease that can cause a lot of harm to humans and sometimes even death," Autumn Smith-Herron, director of the Institute for the Study of Invasive Species at Sam Houston State University, told NBC Houston affiliate KPRC.
A woman gardening in the Briar Forest neighborhood of Houston found the snail and notified workers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center who deal with invasive plants. It is the first reported sighting of the mollusk in Texas, and no one seems to know how it got there.
The giant snails can lay 100 eggs per month, and though only one has been found, it is believed more are in the area.
Jack Fendrick, who lives near where the slimy giant was discovered, said he will do his part to warn of the potentially deadly snails.
"I think most kids especially would look at a big snail and want to touch it," he said. "That's scary."
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.nbcnews.com ...
On the other hand I can see STEVE MARTIN yelling at a waiter...”THERE;S A SNAIL ON HER PLATE!”
Cooking kills parasites.
I can’t help but look at those things and wonder if they could be made edible like regular snails—by feeding them a special diet for a few days, then submerging them in water (with many water changes) until they purge all the slime.
Then boil, clean, serve up with some garlic/butter sauce, they’ll be delicious.
Wiki sez they’re edible.
I sez: “You first”.
It’s a story about a hulking slimy thing that carries disease and parasites in Houston...I thought this was going to be a story about Sheila Jackson Lee.
I wonder if snails ever get claustrophobia.
He snuck across the border from Mexico.
Dang! Harryhausen just missed it!
The invasion of Giant Snails: Reason #239782 why we need armour piercing bullets and 30rd magazines.
Would madame enjoy the snails tonight? They’re especially ... Fresh!
Yeah.... long drops.
I had a Dr. explain it to me like this...cooking kills the germs, but leaves the toxins behind.
Looks like Friday night at the trailer park.
sounds great u can have mine but it reminds me of all those fish dad caught in lake yellowstone that had a worm parasite he said their cooked and that time at my aunts eating a bowl of cereal down to the milk and all those weevils floating and aunt says i microwave them yum and those fried ants my cuz brought back from columbia omg i am laughing so hard and a fly just flew in my mouth...
They say everything’s bigger in Texas...
hah- just watched an old movie about giant snails ‘trerorizing’ a city-
no no no it is take one out of the wok
***am laughing so hard and a fly just flew in my mouth... **
You need to swallow a spider to catch the fly, or else you’ll die!
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/there_was_an_old_lady.htm
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