Today's post is in direct opposition to yesterday's title (Size Matters) as these snails are small but deadly killing around 10,000 people annually. The mosquito still remains the deadliest creature on earth (even more so than humans) with a death toll of 750,000 a year. The way these snails kill is not a pretty picture,they dwell in fresh water in tropical and subtropical areas,when people drink the water they ingest snail eggs,the eggs then burrow into the stomach causing flu-like symptoms...too creepy! Even worse in 2009 a German researcher was attacked and killed by the snails he was trying to collect for his study leaving very little of his body intact. How can this be true you say? Snails have up to 10,000 teeth (actually called radula) that are extremely efficient eating machines! It is my understanding that these are the same snails people put into their freshwater aquariums...they do a good job of keeping it clean but they also eat the fish.
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