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Wednesday - October 01, 2014
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Pests
Title: White snails in Austin, TX.
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
We walked through an undisturbed site off of Hwy. 71 near Old Bee Caves Rd. and there were little white snails on the majority of the plants on site (not specific to certain types of plants). What type of snail would this be? Is there a reason they are in abundance on the site (ex. moist soils) and is there any way to discourage them from spreading to new plants once the site is developed?ANSWER:
Snails are normal constituents of healthy ecosystems. However, there are some instances when the presence of large number of snails might indicate one or more problems. There are a number of snail species in the Austin area, both native and non-native. Though not necessarily the case here, an unusually large number of snails -- or any other organism -- might be an indication that they are an introduced species that have found a new home where there are not predators to keep their numbers in check.
We cannot say which species you've described, but we recommend that you contact your county's AgriLife Extension Service office about identifying the animal and getting their recommendation for any steps you might need to take to protect your landscape.
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