I don't know what's happening but I have a 4 foot round spot in my yard that is dead/dying and it's covered with dead snails and what I think is rabbit poop. We got a lot of rabbits in my neighborhood. My wife wants to re-sod the whole lawn but I am afraid I got some sort of disease and without treatment, a new lawn would wind up looking the same way.

Anybody else here ever have such a problem?

Is it St. Augustine or Bermuda?

Bermuda

I often find shells throughout my yard. The following if from my recollection from reading about the subject several years ago and they no longer being concerned. But, our situations are slightly different - more on that later. Some think snails are good, some think they're bad. I think they're good.

Young grass does not contain silica and mature grass does. And silica is difficult for snails to eat. That means they'll eat young grass. Grass is not all they'll eat though. They'll eat all sorts of organic matter. Have a dog? You'll find them around where your dog [censored]. Does your lawn have a fungus problem? You'll find them around the infected areas - they're eating fungus. In your case, rabbits are enjoying a meal in/of your yard... that's why you have the "dead spots". They drop a deuce and the snails come to clean it up. The abandoned shells, when broken down, return Calcium to the soil.

That's overly simplified, but that's what my research taught me.


Edit:

If you find them around flower beds that's a different story. They are going to enjoy the flowers, shrubs, even trees, etc.

Some kind of Bermuda disease and the snails are eating the decaying vegetation. I had something that when I lived in the suburbs. I reseeded with some Scotts seeds and they grew fine. I tried cheap seeds first and the disease killed them just after they sprouted.

This

rabbits are enjoying a meal in/of your yard.


I trap a few every week and release them in another neighborhood.

So I tilled up that area with my rotary cultivator and spread some used coffee grounds around (rabbit deterrent) and threw down a bunch of Scott's patch master, went to run the sprinkler for that zone and discovered that the sprinklers for that zone are inoperable. I think what has happened is that it has been without water all summer on that side of my yard and just died on me.

My initial guess would be grubbs.
Did you treat for them in August?

All my rabbits commit suicide by running in front of moving vehicles.

They seem to have about a 8 month life span in my a neighbor hood once they reach adult hood.

I wonder if the OP has a non-working, failed zone in his sprinkler system?

Bermuda goes to sleep without water. That looks like something killed it.