( CNN ) -- Florida , already threatened with sinkholes , now has a new terror : rat-sized , tire-puncturing snails . Sounding like something out of a 1950s B-movie , these giant African land snails eat their way through some surprising stuff , including stucco , plastic recycling bins , signs and more than 500 species of plants , says the Florida Department of Agriculture . Their calcium shells bear pointy edges that are sharp enough to blow out tires of vehicles that run over them . Agriculture Department spokeswoman Denise Feiber says the menacing creatures also carry a human parasite called rat lungworm , which is a form of meningitis and potentially deadly . So far , no human cases have been reported in Florida , Feiber says . But some giant African land snails that have been captured in the state have carried the parasite . The snails are isolated to the Miami-Dade County area , says Feiber . Experts do n't know exactly how they were first introduced to the United States . It 's thought they may have hitched rides aboard incoming travelers ' luggage . Or some of them may have been intentionally carried into the country as pets -- and then released . The snails have another trait in common with rats : They can multiply very rapidly -- and grow to adulthood in a year , Feiber says . The snails can produce up to 1,200 eggs per year , and they can live up to nine years . Since agriculture officials first discovered the snail invasion in 2011 , trappers have collected more than 117,000 . Officials are hoping to prevent a worst-case scenario , where the snails would threaten Florida crops . Some countries , such as Ecuador and Barbados , have run out of resources to fight these critters , Feiber said .
Giant African snails are menacing Florida 's Miami-Dade County , say agriculture officials . They can grow as big as rats and could carry a potentially deadly parasite . Score: 6 Experts warn against handling them and suggest calling local agriculture agency .