The massive house eating snails

Not native to but are here and may eat the walls of your house,

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The snails on my farm land are not quite that big…but close. I admit to killing them…and sometimes there is a big cluster of eggs inside.

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They can eat houses?

[quote=“DKaoshuing, post:1, topic:220858, full:true”]
Not native to but are here and may eat the walls of your house,

[quote=“papertowel, post:3, topic:220858, full:true”]
They can eat houses?

No. They can shave of thin layers of concrete to get calcium and minerals for shell building. The eating house myth is more from the SE USA where they have wood frame houses and thin stucko type sheets on top. Because their house’ concrete layers are so thin, it is plausible to cause meaningful damage. Taiwans 20cm plus thick concrete walls are not of concern. especially with the cuturally acceptable vare garden/yard style compared to the US garden style. Our food security is though.

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3 course meal for the French, they’re fucking huge jesus christ

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Thats why they are here. They are farmed. A fairly large percentage of canned escargot are these guys, not that lovely french picturesque countryside family farm style :slight_smile:

Very edible, but riddled with parasites. Clean and cook well prior to eating.

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If the snail looks anything like this, DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!! You will die!!

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Fascinating, thanks for the information! First time seeing that species

I wonder does anyone in the South eat them or just a pest?

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Lots do. Not just the south, island wide. It isnt asuper common thing, but its not rare either. I often see at least one vendor per township in areas of decent population. Most people know about them. Loads of marine snails are eaten everywhere as well. Will take some pics later, headed to the night market. Its a common enough food, just not everyone likes/seeks it.

However the farmed african land snails, like bullfrogs ,are mostly for the export market. Available here, but far.more common internationally. Example. Most canned escargot not from france in a walmart type store are likely these guys. Tropical country of origin on the label suggests this species. Very common.food globally. But a friggen disaster here environmentally and economically.

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I was disappointed to find, upon reading the thread, that there is no Godzilla house rampaging around subsisting on a diet of snails.

I’ve discovered that a whole bunch of creatures enjoy eating my rammed earth walls. God only knows what they get out of that.

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Shits n grins mostly probably some calcium and other minerals too. Imagine the banter around the fermented fruit spot in town about how them bipedal mammals get all bent out of shape when we, the snails, poke their nest.

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On the flip side. The only good snail is a dead snail. At least As an edible human treat.

I really wonder if the government purposely avoids spending project money / making or enforcing laws on the land snail farms in hopes they just slowly die off without interference as to avoid much heated push pushback.

There is . In africa.

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Well hope they never show up in Taiwan, another problem. Besides eating snails they eat many other things.[quote=“Explant, post:13, topic:220858, full:true”]

There is . In africa.


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they are here already as pets. luckily most of the cheap ones likely wont survive here. the smaller tree monitors could be bad here! but they are 15-50k a pop so i doubt any careless owners or religious extremists are going to be setting them free.

touch wood!

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Expensive pets, hope people do not release them. As the green ones shows, hard control once they have their own colony.

We get the African snails in the housing complex (gardens not the apartments) here in Pingtung City. Sometimes see the smaller ones with their shells cracked like they have been dropped by birds, the ones that have been stepped on are more crushed than cracked.

Also saw a 2 foot long iguana crossing the road near the river on monday, another invasive species. I often see them in the countryside but this is the first time i have seen one in the city.

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If you’re a diver don’t touch anything, just watch.

What if the snail swims towards you like a predator moving in on the kill?

Killed by a snail? What an embarrassing way to go.