THE EDITOR: The giant African snail continues to wreak havoc in many residential and agricultural areas across Trinidad. This pest must not be ignored and strategic intervention is needed at the household and community levels to control its population.

The snail has a rapid growth rate which enables swift reproductive maturity, leading to rapidly growing populations throughout Trinidad. Once present, you must devise an action plan to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the population by strategic baiting techniques and habitat modification.

It is essential to identify potential egg-laying and resting sites on your property. These snails can also be collected and destroyed using a concentrated salt solution.

It is highly recommended that community members work together to plan the baiting applications to effectively reduce the snail population within their affected communities.

It should be noted that if one household applies bait and the surrounding properties do not, the cycle of reinfestation continues and the community will be perpetually faced with this pest problem.

The people who are having challenges with the snails must understand that this pest must be aggressively attacked. In this regard, you must contain the population and do all you can to prevent it from further spreading.

I repeat, you need to suppress the population through baiting and also take collective action.

You must also continue to monitor for any signs of the snails in your area since the population can be swiftly re-established. Bait in the evening in active snail areas.

Since the snails are visibly active during the rainy season, it is crucial to attack the population during this period. Ignoring the population this rainy season will contribute to an even larger population next year.

It is important that you also monitor for the presence of bachacs since they are known to remove the bait. As such, baiting for bachacs should be done before snail-bait applications.

The snail bait can be purchased at most agricultural shops. Read the label carefully and follow the guidelines for effective baiting.

The giant African snails can be effectively controlled once their presence is not ignored and prompt interventions are taken that would lead to population reduction.

Take charge and wage war against this pest and eliminate it from your community. It can be done!

DR MARCUS RAMDWAR

via e-mail