No, this is not the plot of a new Sci-Fi flick. Giant African snails the size of rats have invaded Florida and are destroying the local eco-system as they devour everything from plants to stucco and plaster. To put the situation into numbers, about 1,000 of these slimy creatures are caught each week just in the Miami-Dade area, and about 117,000 have been captured since they were first spotted in September 2011. As the Sunshine State moves into its rainy season, however, the snail’s are coming out of hibernation and growing in number. They have become a real problem not only just for those who step on them, but also as their shells can pop tires if driven over and the slime they release onto the pavement can be hazardous to pedestrians.
Photo credit: Florida Department of Agriculture.
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
