Giant African land snails are plaguing homeowners in South Florida, leaving some of them grossed out and panicked. Don’t be fooled by their proverbial slow pace; if it’s one thing these slimy creatures are good at doing fast, it's mating. Like those evolved dinos in “Jurassic Park,” these snails have both male and female organs, and they can lay up to 1,200 eggs a year.
Not only that: They can be up to 8 inches long and can cause damage to homes and gardens. And then there's the ick factor, which the Wall Street Journal’s Arian Campo-Flores explains best: “Homeowners who discover the creatures in their yards often find them disgusting. The snails' engorged bodies extend far from their shells, and they eat so ravenously that they leave trails of excrement on walls and the ground,” she writes.
Officials first started hunting down the critters on Sept. 8, and since then have collected about 10,000 of them. And you think your job sucks.
