Did you know that there’s a species of snails that are as big as a human’s head? They are native to African countries Kenya and Tanzania, but they recently appeared in Florida as well.
The giant African land snail can grow over 8 inches in length. If you have trouble comprehending that, we totally understand you.
As the Florida Department of Agriculture announced, “This is not science fiction. This is real.” These snails feed on around 500 types of plants, so it’s fair to say they’d eat “almost anything,” as described by Daniel Benjamin, public information officer for the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Division of Plant Industry, and reported by The Dodo.
“When it was at its peak, we’d find marks on the sides of houses where the snails had been eating the stucco,” said Benjamin. “Stucco contains calcium, which the snails consume to keep their shells healthy.”
In some parts of the world, people keep them as pets. This is illegal in the U.S., though. The giant snails can live up to 10 years in the wild and around five or six years in captivity.
