Florida races to catch giant African snails, with the help of sniffer dogs
CBSN
The giant African land snail, a potential health risk to humans, has once again invaded Florida — and officials are using specially trained dogs to sniff out the invasive species.
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.
"We're concerned with that being in our environment," Jason Stanley, a biologist with Florida's Department of Agriculture, told AFP.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.