The spread continues

[khayes]

http://www.wwltv.com/local/lafourche/st ... a68db.html

[pbgroupie]

Sadly so much of the information they've given is scare tactics and highly unlikely to be the threat to human life that they say. Buy the look of that picture they have had canas in the area for quite awhile. Maybe they even got pushed inland because of the flooding from Katrina.

[RandySr1]

It is sad they misinform the public this way. Now there are going to be so many people who think of these when someone says "Apple Snails".

[RandySr1]

This bothered me so much I just wrote a letter to the editor.
It is as follows.
"On your news story, Fist-sized snails invade Terrebonne, 04:21 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, by Nikki Buskey / Houma Courier, I must disagree with the article on several accounts.
As a USDA licensed snail breeder, it should be known that the snail they are talking about is not the most common apple snail in aquarium shops. The most common is Pomacea bridgesii (spike-topped apple snail). This species comes in different colors from brown to albino or yellow and even blue, with or without banding. The body of these snails also shows great variation from black to yellow and gray. Another common apple snail is Pomacea canaliculata, this snail is bigger, rounder and is more likely to eat your plants, which makes it less suitable for most aquariums. These snails also come in different shell and body colors.
Without examination, the snails that are described are more than likely Pomacea canaliculata, which have been banned in most rice growing regions around the country along with other countries.
All I am saying is, there is a difference between the "Apple Snails", some good and some very bad for the ecology which the can not all be clumped into a single category.
More info on these snails can be found on the following link. http://www.applesnail.net
Sincerely,
Dr. Randall E. Cook, Sr."

Any comments on which I am wrong would be appreciated.

[pbgroupie]

In so many ways this article is unfair and I thought you trying to explain the difference between bridgs and canas was very good.

They can't prove how the first cana entered the states or Lousiana (they accuse an aquarium owner who disposed of a pet) but yet they make it sound like fact.

They talk about how choked the waterways are with invasive plants (which the cana eat, duh!) and then blast the cana for causing all their problems.

And as for giving apple snails a bad rap about the rat lungworm you could have told them "In areas where small rodents like rats feed on apple snails, the danger of infection with the rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) does exist. But this nematode parasite needs both the apple snail and rodents to complete it's life cycle. The snail only serves as intermediate host, while rodent is the main host. And only the ingestion of raw, infected snails can cause serious illness in humans".

[Babs Johnson]

I was very upset to see the WWL information. Thanks to all of you, I now know the difference between the species. It is typical of WWL to be uninformed and non-scientific.

[pbgroupie]

Hi Babs and welcome to the forum family! We're glad to have you here and to share what we know. It's sad but true that many times reporters just don't check their facts or slant the article to benefit one view.

[Kupcake]

You know what else about that article is so very wrong, the fact that they dont mention that they are native to florida (since they didnt give the proper name, i assume they are flapples). I think they are the wild flapples because of alabama's proximity to florida (right next door). Flooding, migration, or birds (since flapples have been known to lay on a stork or other tall bird's leg) might have brought them north a few hundred miles to alabama.

If they were from an aquarium i would assume them to be golden like a common cana and not the wild brown or banded color. And that is alot of clutches for one hobbiest's snail, especially since that type of snail is illegal in some surrounding states (MS atleast).

This makes me sooo mad!

[Babs Johnson]

We here in LA have seen our invasive species spread like wildfire. Monk Parakeets, etc. I recently have had a wild Cockatoo in my yard. As I live a few blocks from the river, lots of stuff comes off the boats. I have lizards and frogs from far away places. The frogs are awesome, so brightly colored and noisy. What are we to do when the ballasts from these ships brings these creatures here?

Cheers

[rpilla001]

As many of you know here in Miami I have photographed parrots, iguanas, various other lizards, and other invasive species. We have boas, pythons and anacondas in the Everglades now. None of these were brought in by migratory birds. So the pet industry is an easy target.

Having delt with the media, I know they need to put things into short little sound bites and this is often times done at the cost of factual information. "Apple Snails" is much easier for cheesburger bloated television watchers to digest than "Pomacea canaliculata also known as the channeled apple snail".

Kupcake

since flapples have been known to lay on a stork or other tall bird's leg

I would love to know where you saw this. It seems odd that a bird would sit still long enough for a golfball sized snail to climb up its leg and lay eggs. I think a more likely scenerio would be that a heron walked past a recently laid clutch and it stuck to its leg. Either way i would love to see where you got that bit of information

Flapples (Florida Applesnails) have only been seen in small areas outside of Florida. These have beem limited in Luisiana to one area that was a heat run off for a cooling tower of a power plant. These snails can't take the cold at all. Unlike the canas that seem to tolerate some chilly nights along the Gulf Coast.

[Babs Johnson]

are in my back yard. Many people in the Marigny have sited these immigrants. There is nothing that I can do to stop this. Case in point. Melbourne Australia has lots of wild exotic birds (Parrots and Budgies). They were released and made a home for themselves. Now people actually feed them to keep them around. I am not saying that it is right, but we adapt.