# Giant killer snails are attacking! Walk! Walk for the hills! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551 "2006-11-08T14:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/41 "2006-11-09T19:48:10Z")
I thought "mucus’ was the noun and “mucous” was an adjective. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/42 "2006-11-09T19:50:28Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] I thought "mucus’ was the noun and “mucous” was an adjective. [/QUOTE] Just call it “snot” and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/43 "2006-11-09T19:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=ladyfoxfyre] Here is a picture of one, roughly [half the size of a little girl’s face](http://www.corriebusinessgroup.com/PetDepot/HS/images/barbadosGiantLandSnail2.jpg) :eek: [/QUOTE] Ngh. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/44 "2006-11-09T23:38:46Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] When someone flings a trenchcoat open in front of _me_, I’m looking for something with a little bit more heft than a snail. [/QUOTE] But these are _giant_ snails. And they’re hermaphroditic! Plus, if you turn them over, they kinda look like a vagina. What? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/45 "2006-11-09T23:58:50Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] Forget the snails, they’re being overrun by free-floating, disembodied little-girl heads! Surely garlic butter can’t be the solution to this too? [/QUOTE] If garlic butter is not the answer, then I for one don’t even want to know what the question is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/46 "2006-11-10T02:41:15Z")
[This](http://lileks.com/institute/gallery/partycake/9.html) is what happens when you let those free-floating, disembodied little-girl heads get out of control . . . ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/47 "2006-11-10T03:48:57Z")
I wonder if those snails could be trained to attack cilantro plants? I really, really hate cilantro. I’d rather tip-toe through a sea of super-sized snails than ever taste cilantro again. I’d rather wash my face in snail snot than taste cilantro. God, I loathe cilantro. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/48 "2006-11-10T03:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=Rysdad] I wonder if those snails could be trained to attack cilantro plants? I really, really hate cilantro. I’d rather tip-toe through a sea of super-sized snails than ever taste cilantro again. I’d rather wash my face in snail snot than taste cilantro. God, I loathe cilantro. [/QUOTE] That’s great and everything, but how do you feel about cilantro? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/49 "2006-11-10T07:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] She does, but I’ve heard the “walk for your lives…it’s killer snails” joke before. [/QUOTE] In the _Dungeons & Dragons_ roleplaying game, if your character is a dwarf you may be able to make the little fellow into a Dwarven Defender. This is a martial character that specializes in defense, as you may have guessed from the name. This means lots of heavy armor, and a great big tower shield. Dwarves already move more slowly than humans and elves, and all that armor slows them down even more. So some wag over on the official D&D forums has, as his signature, (paraphrasing), “Look, it’s a dwarven defender! Everybody walk quickly!” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/50 "2006-11-10T07:56:01Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] On behalf of all Americans, I can’t _believe_ we’re exporting that crap to Spain…or that somebody there wants it badly enough that it needs to be imported. Still, Spain isn’t really a beer drinking country is it? Don’t most people there prefer wine? [/QUOTE] My supermarket carries it… but it’s usually in the end-of-the-row “sale, sale, sale” spot and for some reason the pile doesn’t seem to get low very fast (unlike, say, the packs of cookies - yesterday the refillers just got fed up and instead of trying to rebuild the pyramid of Marías Fontaneda were serving directly from their cart) Wine is mostly for “with food”, but it’s rare to hear someone ordering a glass of wine in a bar. Beer is very popular for out-of-meals drinking. And well, I’ve seen tanques of beer (5-liter plastic glasses, a 2-liter is a tanqueta) but not of wine or sangría. Before anybody has a heart attack, tanques are supposed to be for sharing 😛 ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/51 "2006-11-10T10:36:58Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Nobody’s suggested coralling them into a giant ravenous snail army? [/QUOTE] And then we could deploy them to Iraq. The whole thing would be over in a week. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/52 "2006-11-13T17:17:59Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] Dwarves already move more slowly than humans and elves, and all that armor slows them down even more. [/QUOTE] Not true. Dwarves aren’t affected by encumbrance like the other races are. In fact a Dwarf of medium or heavy encumbrance moves just as quickly as a human or elf of medium or heavy encumbrance. Yes, I am a geek. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/53 "2006-11-13T18:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] And then we could deploy them to Iraq. The whole thing would be over in a week. [/QUOTE] Maybe that’s what they’ve been using all along and that’s why it’s taking so long. **Ravenous Hermaphroditic Gastropods** = new band name ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/54 "2006-11-13T19:28:36Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] And then we could deploy them to Iraq. The whole thing would be over in a week. [/QUOTE] Better give it a month. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/55 "2006-11-13T22:06:39Z")
[QUOTE=Ghanima] Better give it a month. [/QUOTE] It would take them that long to cook…? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/56 "2006-11-13T23:01:49Z")
All I can think about is a deafening chorus of the chortling-baby-like vocalizations of [this](http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net/images/DeepRoy_NeverEndingStory_TeenyWeeny.jpg) guy, punctuated by an occasional “CRUNCH!!!” What if the folks in Barbados are agents of The Nothing ™?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/57 "2006-11-14T00:11:39Z")
[QUOTE=Hoopy Frood] Not true. Dwarves aren’t affected by encumbrance like the other races are. In fact a Dwarf of medium or heavy encumbrance moves just as quickly as a human or elf of medium or heavy encumbrance. Yes, I am a geek. [/QUOTE] D’OH! What was I thinking? I knew that. Really, I did. Honest! ---
**Author:** ![Dancing\_Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Dancing\_Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancing_Fool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/58 "2006-11-14T01:40:08Z")
When I first saw the header I thought Barbados must have been overrun with a snail from Papua New Guinea that looks similar to these [pretty green snails](http://www.discoverygalleries.com/ArtistSlideShow.asp?image_id=2810&artist_id=156&category_id=2) but grows much larger (hand sized or larger) They look nice, but swarms of them come through and devour your garden in a night. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/59 "2006-11-14T02:55:59Z")
What’s all this talk about forming an army? As anyone knows, the proper vocational direction for slugs is to go to art school, followed by a regular gig at a disreputable free metropolitan newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551/60 "2006-11-14T04:39:01Z")
Yeah, but these are snails. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-killer-snails-are-attacking-walk-walk-for-the-hills/379551.md?page=4)