Giant, slimy African snails invade South Florida

It has giant sinkholes, bizarre crimes and now Florida can add another item to its list of claims for the title of the weirdest state — an infestation of giant snails that can grow to the size of rats.

Reuters reported that authorities have caught more than 117,000 of the huge African snails, an invasive species that can chew through plaster, in the Miami area since September of 2011.

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Residents are in for a slimy mess. More snails will emerge as spring unfolds, a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Agriculture told the news agency. If enough of the creatures thrive, they could chew through a whole range of plant life, leave their goo behind on walls and become a crunching hazard for pedestrians on sidewalks. Yuck.

Florida-dwellers ought to keep an eye on their ceilings, too, because these snails consider stucco a tasty snack, according to Reuters.

"Scientists consider the giant African snail, Lissachatina fulica, to be one of the most damaging snails in the world," an information page on the Department of Agriculture says, adding that this isn't the first time they've made a home in Florida.

A boy smuggled three snails from Hawaii in 1966, the website says, and within seven years, Floridians had found more than 18,000 of them.

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The species is present in Hawaii and in the Caribbean, the website says. The snails also overran Brazil in 2007 after a number of residents imported them to breed as a delicacy, according to National Geographic. The country soon learned the creatures were hardly delicate as they exploded in size and numbers, in a few cases causing illness to those who touched their slime or ate them.