Florida is being invaded by house-eating Giant African Land snails.
According to Richard Gaskalla, head of plant industry for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, southwest Miami is ground zero of an invasion by Giant African Land snails.
The Giant African Land Snail, Achatina fulica, can grow to 10 inches long.
The reproduce prodigiously.
They leave a slimy trail of excrement wherever they go.
They harbor the microscopic rat-lung worm, which can transmit meningitis to humans.
And they can eat the stucco off the side of a house.
Giant African Land Snails are restricted in the US, but people often smuggle them into the country in their pockets, because they make popular novelty pets.
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