Achatina fulica..is that another dracula?

Snails out to destroy vegetation!!!!!!

After the mealy bug, here comes another Dracula...the Giant African snail..Kudos to the young ones whose observation threw light on a potential invader of our green umbrellas.

Achatina fulica (Bowditch)

The newspaper hints at an impending menace, which prompted me to do a hasty compilation. Here it goes....

East African land snail, or giant African land snail,  is a species  of large, air-breathing land snail.

Known as one of the worst invasive species in the world.

Shell colouration is highly variable.

It is a herbivore, eats a wide range of plant material, fruit and vegetables including sand and concrete (as calcium sources for its shell).

The snail is a nocturnal feeder, but may remain active during the day. In dry weather, it burrows into the ground or crawls under shelter where it can remain for several weeks or months.

The Giant African Snail can be baited with metaldehyde.

The chemical is poisonous to the snail if it eats the bait; and also if it comes into contact with the snail’s foot, causing the snail to dehydrate.

The pellets should be spread evenly on the ground around crops in doses of 2.0-20 grams per square metre, depending on the metaldehyde concentration of the product.

Scattering on non-crop areas is not very effective.

Baits should be checked every few days and renewed as necessary.

Kakas and Messis..where are they actually headed?

These fellas did not "trouble" SA much, but they might well do that here.....

Yes, I am talking about football only...The entire attention was in S. Africa, agreed. India also was nowhere in the scheme of things. But in this football crazy Kerala of India, a toddler will easily lecture you on Kaka or Messi, and now Diego Forlan as well. Such was and is the frenzy for Joubulani (no matter the brand, anything round that can be kicked around).


U have to see to believe it. Posters & huge cut outs of mainly Brazil & Argentina. Fans swearing and celebrating every fall and rise of their team and dream stars.....


Post July 12, no one seems to care. Most of these posters, they call it "FLEX"..I think it is made out of some plastic based synthetic material. What is going to happen to these billboards of all size and shapes that is there almost in all small junctions in Kerala?


Some possibilities....

1. They will be safely secured away by the fans.
2. They will be forgotten and slowly it will release itself and fly off in the wind. And finally it will itself settle down in a safe place in the local drain or pond!

Scenario no. 2 is most likely to happen.  

My dear local Kaka and Messi, how eco-friendly is your football frenzy?

love the native

This news by our leading daily is really disturbing (Flowers are not for ever?), but, yes, not at all surprising.

Given the kind of fascination for Western style landscapes, tropical people are also busy chopping off plants. In our attempt to create very appealing greenscapes, we kill so many native flowering plants. After all, in a neatly laid lawn, for which we might have spent a lot of bucks, we don't wish to have "weeds". Right?

But, it is not just the plants, our native ones, are killed...As I wrote before about the trees, every plant harbours or shelters a wide variety of living organisms. Go out and take a close look. Yup...the plant is a vital link of the food web..By snapping it, we start a chain reaction of extinction processes.

We may need lawns and neat gardens..but let us also give some space to our local fellas (read plants).  

Hartal and how green is it?

Hartal (har- thaal)- I dont know from where this word came. But I know that in my small Kerala it means total shutdown..when a call (Yup..the politicians give it..there also seems to be a website dedicated to it) is given for harthal, people strike work, dont move out their vehicles and stay put at home.

Post harthaal, we dont forget to conduct talks and endless debates about "economic loss" on account of lost man hours.

My bright masters student, however thinks otherwise. He sees a "green" opportunity here. Since the vehicles stays home (I remember reading about the vehicle density in this small Kerala state-it seems to have overtaken USA!), the emissions on hartal day is very low. So, hartal days are actually carbon nuetral..argues Anish.

Well Anish, Keralites might be saving on carbon emissions, but look what an average Malayalee does when left to do nothing? Like in hartaal days...Watch TV endlessly, gobble up oil-fried snacks (that include chicken tikka and the like). All these are highly energy-intensive. You spend electricity to run the TV, fan, AC (if it is there) and fuel to cook. By over-watching we are creating more demand for electricity. Same is the case with food stuffs. And this is no "green" either.

So, isnt' the carbon nuetral gained (???) out of harthal getting offset by our "not-so-green" actions at home?

What is the trade-off, Anish?