Achtung! I spy something slimy
Remember in the Dumbo cartoon when the crows sang, “I think I’ve seen about every old thing, when I seen an elephant fly?” Well the customs officials in the German city of Dusseldorf were paying attention to the floor and got a vision of something completely different that had flown into the airport baggage warehouse. One guard saw what looked like a line of grease on the floor. Looking around he spotted a snail perched on a baggage truck and thought it was a toy, until it started moving. They then followed the slime trail of the gastropod and arrived at a suitcase with a hole in it. When he reached that case, another snail was getting ready to make a break to freedom. In total, officials found six bags containing 93 giant snails, 62 pounds of fish and smoked meat, and a suitcase full of rotting meat. All had been imported from Nigeria and were destined for an African goods store in western Germany.
The Giant African land snail, or Lissachatina fulica, is considered a significant cause of pest issues around the world. Across the world, it is the most frequently occurring invasive species of snail. The giant African land snail feeds voraciously and is a spreader of plant and human diseases, causing severe damage to agricultural crops and native plants. They can even damage buildings by feeding on some construction materials for calcium. These are the snails banned in Florida that have been eating the stucco off the outside of the houses. This snail can thrive in many habitats with mild climates. Smuggling of these snails for food and as folk medicine is very common. Officials in the US routinely check for snails in the luggage of travelers from West Africa, particularly Nigeria, Ghana, and Congo. In Nigeria, the snails are often called “Congo meat” and command high prices as a delicacy. They are banned in most western countries because they also are very fluent spreaders of African human diseases. It seems these snails did not suit the German diet either, everything was destroyed.
Humor at a snail’s pace
Some people eat snails…
they must not like fast food.
My computer crashed at work,
Now all the other computers on the network have slowed down so they can see what’s happening.
I was going through airport security and I got asked “Do you have any firearms?”
Apparently, “What do you need?” wasn’t the right answer.
What did the SNAIL say while riding on the turtles back?
” Wheeeeeeeee”
September 19th Birthdays
1950 – Joan Lunden, 1986 – Song jum-ki, 1972 – Sanaa Latham, 1949 – Twiggy
1934 – David McCallum, 1948 – Jeremy Irons, 1980 – John Paul Green, 1969 – Michael Symon