Another giant African snail sighting forces Florida county into quarantine

The reappearance of an invasive snail species forced state officials to enact a quarantine order last week for residents of Florida's Pasco County, an area north of Tampa along the gulf coast. 

Authorities took action after confirming that a notoriously destructive breed of mollusk, known as the giant African land snail, was identified by a community gardener in the city of Port Richey. A division of Florida's department of agriculture that manages pest control began to survey the region for additional snail sightings once the quarantine mandate was in place, according to the agency. The control unit started to treat the land with baited pesticide on Tuesday.

Florida's agriculture department has called the giant African snail "one of the most damaging" mollusk subtypes in the world. Its unusually large size and ability to procreate in vast quantities allows the creature to infiltrate surrounding areas quickly, posing threats to vegetation and infrastructure because of its appetite for at least 500 different plants as well as paint and stucco. At four months old, a single snail can lay thousands of eggs at a time and each can grow to be 8 inches long as an adult.