Giant snails have Florida on search-and-destroy mission

Non-native species eats 500 types of plants — and can cause meningitis in humans

Florida is used to strange creatures, but the discovery of a non-native animal — a giant snail from East Africa — has got local officials really worried.

A search-and-destroy advisory that went out included this bit of history: the last time the giant snails were found in Florida (back in 1966) they had multiplied from three to 18,000 in seven years and cost $1 million to eradicate.

The new population of giant African land snails was found in Miami-Dade County, and several dozen technicians were quickly dispatched to search them out.

About 1,000 were found Thursday within a one-square-mile radius, the Miami Herald reported. Several hundred were found in one backyard in Coral Gables. How they got there was not immediately known.

Read More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44554988/ns/us_news-environment/t/giant-snails-have-florida-search-and-destroy-mission/