Greetings to the community. Since I was little, my grandparents used to take me and my brother to their country house, where we had various plants and crops. At that time I did not pay attention to this, I entertained myself watching the river or playing with the boys in the area. Today this has changed, at the moment I am the one who takes care of the house and its crops. In future posts I will share with you the fruits and vegetables I have.
In this post I am going to tell you about a pest that appeared in the house and that I thought would be fatal: the giant African snail. Since Cuba made official the presence of this mollusk in the country I have lived in fear that they would appear in the house. It should be added that since I was a child slugs and snails disgusted me tremendously. One day while I was contemplating the garden of the house I came across the first one, I couldn't believe it. I spent a few minutes analyzing whether I should squash it, bury it or take it away and disappear. After thinking about it, I wrapped it in a newspaper, I crushed it, so as not to see it (remember that mollusks disgust me) and finally I left it in a garbage can. This meticulous process I was doing with 3 or 4 more snails.
One day I decided to change the method of elimination because the pest was definitely going to keep making appearances. I took a bucket that had lime in it, poured water in it and started stirring the mixture until it was quite homogeneous. Then I separated some in a smaller bucket and since that day the giant African snail that I find goes to the lime well, as I like to call it.
I know that this mollusk is very resistant and reproduces quite fast. For this reason, since I saw the first one, I took on the task of carefully observing the land, from the garden, the side aisles of the house and the backyard to eradicate them as soon as possible. Every time I go there I do a search and try to have the land as clean as possible. I find a snail every two or three weeks, so there are not many left. One day I alerted the nearest neighbor of the existence of this pest in the house, since her yard borders mine. That same day she casually called me because inside some construction parts she had a very large snail but I wasn't sure if it was the African giant. I crossed the fence that divides our land and went to check it out. My neighbor was very astonished because she had never seen one before. I explained to her the ways of elimination that exist and the one I use. I left her some lime so that she can eliminate them herself and since then we inform each other of the sightings we make, which are not very frequent.
While I was making this publication I found other snails to which I made the following photo session馃摳.
When I touched them with the machete they hid in their shells.
I waited for them to feel confident and come out again. In the background of this image you can see a yucca plant from the garden.
See how the snail shares space with a toad due to the humidity in the trunk of this tree.
How did the snails get on my land, did someone carry them intentionally or unknowingly, did the river water wash them away when it overflows due to the rains?
I ask myself these questions repeatedly, although it would be very difficult to determine the way the mollusks arrived. Besides, other communities in Havana had already reported their presence, so one way or another it had to touch me.These animals can get stuck to a vehicle and be carried long distances, so I just have to deal with the situation. As the fruits of the farmhouse are moved to my parents' house, I always check that there are no unwanted guests hiding in a bunch of bananas or attached to some yuccas. It would be a pity if African snails also appeared in my mother's garden.
Due to the various crises that Cuba has gone through, Cubans have innovated in order to feed themselves. With the arrival of the snail some people have thought of cooking them and adding them to the menu. Here is a link to the video in which a Cuban explains how to clean, cook and consume the giant African snail.
To limit the area of action of the mollusks I have painted the paths through the garden with lime.
In closing I would like to leave this community with the link to this site which addresses the risks this species poses to us humans and to our garden in general. Has anyone else in the community had experiences battling this pest?
Thanks for reading.
All photos are my own and were taken with my Huawei Honor 8X.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Versi贸n en Espa帽ol
Saludos a la comunidad. Desde peque帽os, mis abuelos me llevaban junto con mi hermano a su casa de campo, en la ten铆amos diversas plantas y cultivos. En aquel entonces no le prestaba atenci贸n a esto, me entreten铆a mirando el r铆o o jugando con los muchachos de la zona. Hoy esto ha cambiado, en estos momento soy yo quien cuida dicha casa y sus sembrados. En futuros post les ir茅 compartiendo las frutas y verduras que tengo.
En esta publicaci贸n vengo a hablarles de una plaga que apareci贸 en la casa y que pens茅 ser铆a funesta: el caracol gigante africano. Desde que Cuba hizo oficial la presencia de este molusco en el pa铆s he vivido con el temor de que aparecieran en la casa. Hay que agregar que desde que era un ni帽o las babosas y los caracoles me daban un asco tremendo. Un d铆a mientras estoy contemplando el jard铆n de la casa me top茅 al primero, no me lo pod铆a creer. Me pas茅 unos minutos analizando si deb铆a aplastarlo, enterrarlo o llev谩rmelo y desaparecerlo. Despu茅s de pensar lo envolv铆 en un peri贸dico, lo escach茅, para de esa forma no verlo (recuerden que me dan asco los moluscos) y finalmente lo dej茅 en un basurero. Ese meticuloso proceso lo estuve haciendo con 3 o 4 caracoles m谩s.
Un d铆a me propuse cambiar el m茅todo de eliminaci贸n porque definitivamente la plaga iba a seguir haciendo sus apariciones. Cog铆 un cubo que ten铆a cal, le ech茅 agua y comenc茅 remover la mezcla hasta que qued贸 bastante homog茅nea. Luego separ茅 un poco en un cubito m谩s peque帽o y desde ese d铆a el caracol gigante africano que me encuentro va para el pozo de cal,como me gusta llamarlo.
Se que este molusco es muy resistente y se reproduce bastante r谩pido. Por esta raz贸n desde que vi al primero me di a la tarea de observar con detenimiento el terreno, desde el jard铆n, los pasillos laterales de la casa y el patio trasero para erradicarlos lo m谩s pronto posible. Cada vez que voy hago una b煤squeda y trato de tener el terreno lo m谩s limpio posible. Me encuentro un caracol cada dos o tres semanas, as铆 que no quedan muchos. Un d铆a alert茅 a la vecina m谩s cercana de la existencia de esta plaga en la casa, ya que su patio limita con el mio. Ese mismo d铆a casualmente me llam贸 porque dentro de unas piezas de construcci贸n ten铆a un caracol grand铆simo pero no estaba segura de que fuera el gigante africano. Cruc茅 la cerca que divide nuestros terrenos y fui a comprobarlo. Efectivamente se trataba de este caracol, mi vecina qued贸 muy asombrada porque nunca hab铆a visto uno. Le explique las formas de eliminaci贸n que existen y la que yo utilizo. Le dej茅 un poco de cal para que pueda eliminarlos ella misma y desde entonces nos informamos mutuamente los avistamientos que hacemos, que no son muy frecuentes.
Mientras confeccionaba esta publicaci贸n encontr茅 otros caracoles a los que les realic茅 la siguiente sesi贸n馃摳 de fotos
Cuando los toqu茅 con el machete se escondieron en su concha
Esper茅 a que sintieran confianza y salieran nuevamente. En el fondo de esta imagen pueden ver una planta de yuca del jard铆n
Vean como el caracol comparte el espacio con un sapo debido a la humedad que alberga el tronco de este 谩rbol.
驴C贸mo llegaron los caracoles a mi terreno?驴Alguien los llev贸 intencionalmente o sin percatarse?驴Los habr谩 arrastrado el agua del r铆o cuando se desborda por las lluvias?
Estas preguntas me las hago reiteradamente aunque ser铆a muy dif铆cil determinar la v铆a de llegada de los moluscos. Adem谩s ya otras comunidades de La Habana hab铆an reportado su presencia, as铆 que de una u otra forma me ten铆a que tocar. Estos animales se pueden quedar adheridos a un veh铆culo y ser trasladados grandes distancias, solo queda hacerle frente a la situaci贸n. Como los frutos de la casa de campo se trasladan hacia la casa de mis padres, chequeo siempre que no haya ning煤n hu茅sped no deseado escondido en un racimo de pl谩tanos o adherido a unas yucas. Ser铆a una pena que en el jard铆n de mi mam谩 tambi茅n aparecieran caracoles africanos.
Debido a las diversas crisis que Cuba ha atravesado las cubanas y cubanos hemos innovado para podernos alimentar. Con la llegada del caracol algunas personas han pensado en cocinarlos y agregarlos al men煤. Aqu铆 les dejo un enlace del video en que un cubano explica c贸mo limpiar, cocinar y consumir el caracol gigante africano.
Para limitar el 谩rea de acci贸n de los moluscos he pintado con cal los caminos que atraviesan el jard铆n.
Para finalizar me gustar铆a dejarle a esta comunidad el enlace de este sitio en el cu谩l se abordan los riegos que representa esta especie para nosotros los humanos y para nuestro jard铆n en general. 驴Alguien m谩s en la comunidad ha tenido experiencias luchando contra esta plaga?
Gracias por leer.
Todas las fotos son de mi propiedad y fueron realizadas con mi Huawei Honor 8X.
Traducido con DeepL.com (free version)