Florida invaded by giant snails

[AlienDan]

The animals, which can grow to the size of a rabbit, are eating through plaster in the walls of buildings as they attempt to consume the huge amounts of calcium they need to grow their shells.

lol sounds like something out of a movie.

[justcalmebubba]

Where's mike rowe when flordia needs him the most

[BiffSplitkins]

*I aplogize in advance for this one.

Once there was a snail who was tired of being slow. He went out and bought a really fast sports car and had the dealer paint a big 'S' on each side of it.

Whenever someone saw him zooming past in his new car, they would say, "Hey, look at that S-car go!"

[Abramelin]

Large numbers of hungry Giant African Land Snails have descended upon Florida in their thousands.

Carpaccio of Giant African Land Snail

Our recipe exploits the fact that snails cannot digest sugar but will eat it until it brings on anaphylactic shock as the sugar crystalizes in the veins and abdomen of the gastropod.

Firstly feed the snails on sugared almonds for 3-4 weeks. They are ferocious eaters and will go through about 5kg before shock sets in. They will slow down considerably (even for snails) before this happens. One could also just crack them open with a brick, but we want to keep the shell intact.

Now place them in a freezer for about 45 mins.

Remove and slice into 1.5mm – 2mm slivers, shell and all. (You will need a circular tile cutter or a jeweller's fret saw for this.)

Lay the frozen slices in baking trays, and pour over a solution of 1 part salt & 2 parts lime juice to 3 parts water. This removes the slime.

Heat your oven to about 175C.

Carefully rinse the slices several times with fresh water, finally leaving a small amount behind in each tray. Cover with tin foil and place in the oven to steam for an hour or so. The body (foot) of the snail will shrink slightly in the process. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Normally in most land snail recipes, the guts and stomach are dicarded into a neighbours' garden, but in this instance, the four week diet of sugared almonds produce within the snails vital organs, a sweet paste, not unlike marzipan.

Arrange 3 slices on each plate, as in fig. 2 and remove the coiled shell leaving the meat in place (this can be fiddly). Make a coulis by reducing over a brisk heat 1 cup of fresh pomegranate juice, thinly diced shallots and a little honey. Sprinkle the snail with whole pomegranate seeds and pour over a little of the coulis. Serve at room teperature.

http://www.thedomest....com/snail.html

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Edited April 16, 2013 by Abramelin

[godnodog]

oh how I envy you, we eat them here in Portugal, delicious, we do them better than the French

[Technocrat]

A tortoise was mugged by a gang of snails. When he was asked afterwards if he could identify any of the assailents he said he didn't get a good look at any of them as it all happened so fast!

[Lava_Lady]

Carpaccio of Giant African Land Snail

Our recipe exploits the fact that snails cannot digest sugar but will eat it until it brings on anaphylactic shock as the sugar crystalizes in the veins and abdomen of the gastropod.

Firstly feed the snails on sugared almonds for 3-4 weeks. They are ferocious eaters and will go through about 5kg before shock sets in. They will slow down considerably (even for snails) before this happens. One could also just crack them open with a brick, but we want to keep the shell intact.

Now place them in a freezer for about 45 mins.

Remove and slice into 1.5mm – 2mm slivers, shell and all. (You will need a circular tile cutter or a jeweller's fret saw for this.)

Lay the frozen slices in baking trays, and pour over a solution of 1 part salt & 2 parts lime juice to 3 parts water. This removes the slime.

Heat your oven to about 175C.

Carefully rinse the slices several times with fresh water, finally leaving a small amount behind in each tray. Cover with tin foil and place in the oven to steam for an hour or so. The body (foot) of the snail will shrink slightly in the process. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Normally in most land snail recipes, the guts and stomach are dicarded into a neighbours' garden, but in this instance, the four week diet of sugared almonds produce within the snails vital organs, a sweet paste, not unlike marzipan.

Arrange 3 slices on each plate, as in fig. 2 and remove the coiled shell leaving the meat in place (this can be fiddly). Make a coulis by reducing over a brisk heat 1 cup of fresh pomegranate juice, thinly diced shallots and a little honey. Sprinkle the snail with whole pomegranate seeds and pour over a little of the coulis. Serve at room teperature.

http://www.thedomest....com/snail.html

This sounds tasty, but i'm afraid I'd grow quite fond of the little nuggets and would not be able to eat them. 3 Weeks is a long time to get to know a snail...

Edited April 17, 2013 by Lava_Lady

[Abramelin]

This sounds tasty, but i'm afraid I'd grow quite fond of the little nuggets and would not be able to eat them. 3 Weeks is a long time to get to know a snail...

OK, then feed them beer. That works faster.

[Euphorbia]

OK, then feed them beer. That works faster.

Just make sure it's not light beer....

[Mantis914]

I don't know, Rat Lungworm doesn't sound all that appealing to me...

We've gotten quite an infestation in our garden here in TX also, never seen so many snails before. They aren't large just average size but I crunch about 2 or 3 of them just going in and out even trying to avoid them...

[shrooma]

i, for one, welcome our new gastropod overlords!

:-)

[Allterspace]

Is that what has been leaving those slippery trails on the side walk at night? That doesn't quite explain the one left on the copy machine at my work. I'll have my secretary keep a lookout!

[kwin]

We have all of our 'terrorist security' standing around our airports, while hundreds of invasive species infiltrate our communities, farms, forests and waterways from Asian carp to Zebra Mussels.

[AsteroidX]

Run away children !!

[libstaK]

I don't know, Rat Lungworm doesn't sound all that appealing to me...

Exactly what I was thinking - a meningitis type illness is not something I would risk. Of course, the cooking process and the copious garlic everyone is using may be enough to kill the Rat Lungworm, or they could be commercially bred in sterile conditions with no rat lungworm. I would want a guarantee they were worm free before I considered trying one.

[pallidin]

Exactly what I was thinking - a meningitis type illness is not something I would risk. Of course, the cooking process and the copious garlic everyone is using may be enough to kill the Rat Lungworm, or they could be commercially bred in sterile conditions with no rat lungworm. I would want a guarantee they were worm free before I considered trying one.

That's good to know. Wasn't aware of any of that.

[Mistydawn]

gees, someone could make a load of cash if they sold them to the French!

[ineffectiveArtist]

Ah, people should eat them. That would stop such an invasion, ja? Wait, what do snails taste like? I'll go to Florida and find out! XD

[Artaxerxes]

They are quite beautiful. Probably okay to eat if you cook them well done. Boil the hell out of them. The pull out of the shell, pull off the guts, and then chop the meat up very fine and mix with garlic and butter.

[mysticwerewolf]

I remember the one time I had escargot it tasted like old rubber tires and was just as tough. the garlic and butter and chives didn't cover the taste at all. If I were going to catch them I would try to find a way to do so with the shell in tack. I could then paint the shells and sell them to tourists

[Simbi Laveau]

*giggles* of course I want one now.

And I've never heard of a snail used in a Santeria ritual . How odd