Solution For Gadget

When we first moved to Costa Rica almost 2 years ago, we never imagined a fear of snails. Snakes, Spiders and Scorpions were much more scary to think about! Now that our Costa Rican born baby, Sofia just turned 9 months old, she has become quite mobile. When she is not walking from furniture to furniture, she crawls with quickness. When she sees an open door, she can be very fast, because, like most children, she loves to be outside.

I have never been a "helicopter" mom, hovering over my children, just ask any of my friends from Texas who probably thought I was too lenient. I do; however, watch from afar and I have been known to be quick on my feet as well. Once when our son Max was nearly 2 years old, he chased a flock of ducks into Lake Conroe where we used to live in Texas. I jumped up so fast and was in the water rescuing him before my mother could readjust her eyeballs. When it comes to how fast a baby can put something in their mouths, I failed miserably. It is hard enough keeping her out of the dog bowls!

Yesterday, when we returned home from our morning walk, we took Sofia out of her stroller and put her on the ground to stretch. Within 60 seconds she crawled to the bench and picked up a large slug and stuck it into her mouth in front of me, my husband and our other daughter Sara.

OMG!

We all screamed and ran over to her, scaring her into tears. We did not overreact either. The slugs or snails are called "Babosas" and they slither around in the morning, just before the air gets warm from the sun. I am usually vigilant walking through the house every morning before my coffee doing a "slug check". Our friend, Marcella told us to beware of Babosas because they can do horrible damage to the stomach, and of course, babies put everything in their mouths, so children do die in Costa Rica from eating and/or touching these nuisances.

What do I do now?

We did some research and found out all we needed to know from The Real Costa Rica Blog. "Tico Grande" Tim wrote plenty of history and information about these killer slugs. Basically, they are covered in slime that can contain fecal spores from rats and mice which contain parasites. If a child even touches a slug, then rubs his eyes or sticks his finger in his mouth, he can ingest the parasites.

Furthermore, they can be found on vegetables, so wash your fruits and veges well! I was mortified and anyone living in Costa Rica knows that nothing is open at 8:00 in the morning. Matt called our doctor for 2 hours. Finally, he reached Dr. Juan and got some good news. Sofia is not going to die. "No piense" he said, which means to not worry. We were lucky to see her ingest the snail because now we can give her an anti-parasitic med called Repinox and she should be fine before the parasites do any damage to her intestines. The kids who are not caught in the act are not so lucky. If gone untreated, the child can die.