This invasive species even eats cement; Africans treat it as a delicacy, but in China no one dares to eat it or touch it

People have mixed feelings about invasive species: the popular ones like crayfish are hailed as a popular food, while some are treated like rats crossing the street, chased and beaten by everyone. They are all invasive species, so why is the treatment so different? The "African giant snail" is just such a case, reduced in China to being driven away with pesticides.

In the end, the African giant snail has nothing to offer: it cannot be eaten, because it carries multiple parasites and pathogens in its body; it cannot be used, and it also destroys various crops, eating everything from trees to vegetable leaves. What is hateful is that it does not eat weeds, earning it the title of "garden killer," which is why everyone wants it gone.

The African giant snail is a medium-to-large snail; its shell alone is five or six cm, and its full length can reach twenty or thirty cm. This creature eats everything and will eat almost anything except ordinary crops; it harms at least more than five hundred kinds of plants. When hungry, it will even eat the corpses of its own kind, and it can also digest wall lime. It is truly unmatched when it comes to eating.

The African giant snail is not only capable of eating and huge in size, but also extremely strong in reproductive capacity, laying thirty to seven hundred eggs at a time, and producing at least more than a thousand companions a year. To supplement calcium, it frantically eats cement and lime to grow its shell.

Speaking of this, there is a well-known invasion story. It is said that in the last century there was an African giant snail disaster in Florida in the United States, which suffered greatly from it. What led to all this was that seven years before the incident, a boy traveled to Hawaii and brought back three snails. Within a few years, these three snails quickly settled down, had offspring, and dominated the local area. A large number of crops were eaten away, and the environment was severely damaged.

This also shows how terrifying the reproductive speed of the African giant snail is. In addition, it can also spread tuberculosis and meningitis. China first discovered the African giant snail in 14, and in recent years it has been found in various places, especially after the rainy season, constantly popping up like weeds. If found, it can be killed with pesticides and other insecticides. If you have touched its body or it has sprayed mucus, wash your hands promptly.

If after all this there are still people who eat it, then that is truly suicidal behavior. But not to mention, there really are such brave souls: locally in Africa they treat it as a delicious food, because in Africa it has natural enemies, so there is no need to worry about it overrunning.

In addition, in France the eggs of the African giant snail are also made into food using the same process as caviar, and it is said to taste good. However, in China basically no one dares to eat it, because most people have some understanding of its harm, and moreover China has plenty of delicious foods, so very few people eat snails.

And because of its huge size, many people also keep the African giant snail as a pet. In the eyes of some people, the giant snail has an ugly-cute kind of appeal, but it is not recommended to raise wild ones. It carries hundreds of parasites and pathogens, so be careful about getting infected with germs and parasites. It is best not to eat it either.