Pests Last Seen in 1922 : Destructive White Snails Back in County

After more than a half-century’s absence, the pesky white garden snail, which feeds off Southern California agriculture, has returned to San Diego County.

The snail, which has been found in Encanto and Santee gardens, last surfaced in the county in 1922, when it destroyed nearly 100 La Jolla residential gardens.

State agriculture officials have discovered two separate patches of the small white snails in Martin Luther King Park and in a canyon near Santee.

“You can’t walk in the infested areas without stepping on snails,” said Bill Routhier, pest control manager for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Inspectors have collected buckets full of the snails--considered pests here but a delicacy in Sicily, Southeast Asia and the Philippines--since state agriculture officials discovered the infested areas earlier this week. Officials distinguish the white garden snail from the brown garden snail, which is relatively harmless.

Officials suspect the recent snail infestation was caused by neighborhood snail-breeding farms.

Kathleen Thunner has met with Southeast Asian and Filipino groups in San Diego County, warning them against eating the snails, which will be chemically treated later this month.

The snails, which blanket ground foliage, tree bark and buildings, are in their dry dormant stage right now. Officials say the first rain of the season will lift the dry snails out of the dormant stage, sending them back to the ground for mating.

The creatures, which can lay as many as 200 eggs in a single clutch, reproduce very rapidly. “We conceivably could have new generations every 40 days,” Routhier said.

In enormous numbers, the snails can ravage a residential garden in less than 24 hours, officials said. In twice that time they can destroy a citrus crop.

The snails feed on citrus, avocado, pears, olives and other vegetation common to Southern California.

During the 1922 La Jolla infestation, county officials eradicated the snails by setting fire to the canyons where they lived and leaving poisonous bait for them in residential areas.

The burn method is not an option in Encanto and Santee, since both infested areas are near homes and businesses.

Officials expect to use a combination of chemical spray, poison bait and mechanical tractors to remove the pests.