Apple Snails Booming In Central Florida's Lakes

[Cherryrebel]

Apple Snails Booming In Central Florida's Lakes

POSTED: 11:34 am EDT May 31, 2005
UPDATED: 11:42 am EDT May 31, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando area is seeing a snail boom.

Channeled apple snails are originally from South America, but the big snail is popping up in north Central Florida and some people aren't happy to see them.

Some biologists fear these snails could severely reduce the region's wetlands, threatening water quality and crowding out native species.

But the long-term threat posed by the snails is unclear. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and a biologist from the University of West Florida are working to determine if the snail boom in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes has anything to do with efforts to remove muck and restore native plants.

The snails lay up to 1,000 pink eggs once a week. Some countries eat these snails as an alternative to escargot, but experts advise against eating them since the snails may harbor parasites that can cause meningitis.

http://www.wesh.com/news/4549495/detail.html

Time to go creek wading lmao

[luvfishies]

Hmmmmmm, wish there were native applesnails here for me to go collecting!

I know, it's a serious problem where they've been introduced

[justwaaaa]

[color=red]Yep, we've heard the same thing here in the Greater Tampa Area. Just had a big write-up in the Tampa Tribune last week about Canas/channelled, and they're totally destroying all the vegetation in local lakes and messing up the ecosystem. I love these snails and would love to own at least one, but I hope that sellers of them put a special note on their auctions about how dangerous it is to the environment to let these little guys get out into the wild.

[bethany]

My Mom came over while I was cleaning out the outside watery jail and told me she had seen this story on the news in the a.m. She looked all concerned.

So I help up a cana and said oh yeah, that's these. The poor woman... I'm not sure what she thinks. The brook has dried up weeks ago, there isn't water for miles and I don't think canas will eat dry brown grass. Plus they are in JAIL, no way out!

bethany, who lives in New England where winters are brrrrrr cold