Many famous families and villains could have fit the bill. The first is that the snails are the enemy of the person writing the manuscripts.
Two reasons might explain the ubiquitous depictions (but not fully).
Medievalists at the British Library began to wonder the same things we all are – WHY. But the mystery remains – why? And were snails really that big back then?Īpparently, it’s a common sight in English scrolls dating from the 13th and 14th centuries: armored knights engaging in medieval combat with giant snails. The knights were depicted fighting giant snails. More often, infected slugs in the folds of leafy green vegetables have been known to spread disease.Alright, that headline is a bit misleading.
Customs officials have also found various species of snails carted in luggage by people who consider them a culinary delicacy. In spite of the health concerns associated with the species, in July 2014, USDA inspectors busted a Long Island man with 200 snails and traced them back to the seller in Georgia, who had launched a illegal scheme to sell them. “There are already too many of them, and they could extend their range throughout the Southeast and other warmer climes, not the arid southwest but parts of California for sure,” he said. It cost the government $1 million to eradicate them - and it took 10 years.īut there were rediscovered in Florida in 2011, and Cowie, who studies the species, says it’s unlikely government efforts to contain and erase the snail will be successful this time. His grandmother let them go in her garden, and seven years later, there were more than 18,000 snails and thousands of eggs. The first time they were found in Florida, in the 1960s, they were traced to a Miami boy who smuggled three snails in after a trip to Hawaii. Courtesy/Customs and Border Protection Show More Show Less Scientists consider this mollusk one of the most damaging snails in the world. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists working at the Port of Oakland discovered two live Giant African Snails along with a pile of dead snail eggs in early December while examining a cargo shipment of wooden pallets from American Samoa. Courtesy/Customs and Border Protection Show More Show Less 3 of3 U. Courtesy/Customs and Border Protection Show More Show Less 2 of3 U. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateġ of3 U. “The federal government doesn’t want them in the mainland United States - and they’re already in Florida,” he said. “They are widespread in Samoa and Hawaii, and it’s not unreasonable they would get on pallets and arrive in Oakland,” Cowie said.įederal officials are taking the incursion seriously, Cowie said. The disease can be spread through domestic pets that come in contact with infected snails or a predator. His description of the invertebrate sounds like an episode from the old 1970s Rod Serling show “Night Gallery.” It lays up to 1,200 eggs a year and carries rat lungworm, a disease that can cause a brain-eating form of meningitis, said Professor Robert Cowie, a researcher at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii. The giant snail is considered one of the world’s most invasive pests - and has spread from the shores of eastern Africa across two oceans and onto the Pacific islands. The container carrying the snails was sealed and sterilized before being off-loaded, he added. Department of Agriculture for tests, Falcon said. They were found on wooden pallets that originated in American Samoa, said Frank Falcon, a spokesman for the federal agency. Customs and Border Protection agents who were inspecting the docks. Two live giant African snails were found at the Port of Oakland this month - with a bunch of eggs - by U.S. Not only do they eat 500 types of plants and would threaten agriculture, they eat paint and stucco and carry disease that can cause meningitis in humans. It’s a ravenous land snail that can grow to 8 inches in length and 5 inches in diameter, and authorities say that if they get loose on California soil, we’re in trouble. It’s the giant African snail - and no need to wonder about its name.