Misidentified Giant Snail Terrorizes Texas

Giant African land snails, which can grow to the size of rats, are spreading throughout Florida. Their appearance has alarmed many since they have the annoying habit of eating many plants and even stucco houses. They also can carry a parasitic worm that causes meningitis in humans.

It's understandable, then, that Texans would worry about the supposed sighting of a giant African land snail near Houston. A flurry of stories went up this morning saying the invasive menace had arrived. However, the fears may be unfounded. "We have no reason to believe there are any giant African snails in Texas," Tanya Espinosa, public affairs specialist at U.S. Department of Agriculture, told the New York Daily News.

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Douglas Main loves the weird and wonderful world of science, digging into amazing Planet Earth discoveries and wacky animal findings (from marsupials mating themselves to death to zombie worms to tear-drinking butterflies) for Live Science. Follow Doug on Google+.