I posted about seeing a young armadillo when walking the dogs last week. I mentioned that the armadillo showed no fear whatsoever, and I also mentioned that I doubted that Zeke would have much trouble piercing its armor. Well, we saw what I think is the same armadillo a couple of days ago. It was scrabbling around in the same place. I thought it was a good opportunity to get a photo where you could actually see the armadillo, so I pulled out my phone and tried to take a shot. I had to hold two leashes in one hand while I took the shot with the other hand. This is what I got.
The armadillo is just above and slightly to the right of Sam’s head. Immediately after I took this shot, Zeke lunged and clamped the armadillo in his jaws. With one hand holding my phone, I wasn’t able to restrain Zeke. He shook the armadillo violently, and I could hear some crunching. I shouted “NO!” as loud as I could. I figured dogs all over Texas Valley stopped whatever they were doing and looked around. Zeke is hard of hearing, but he heard me this time. He dropped the armadillo and it ran away down the slope as fast as I have seen one move.
I have no idea whether Zeke injured the armadillo. It might have suffered serious, even mortal wounds. I have not seen or heard it since this unfortunate (for the armadillo) event.
Here’s what one Web site says about armadillos:
About two million years age, a relative of the armadillo as large as a rhinoceros lived in South America. Smaller cousins lived as far north as Canada. All of these forms disappeared in the ice ages long before humans inhabited North America. At the start of the 20th century, the nine-banded armadillo was present in Texas. By the 1930s, they were in Louisiana and by 1954 they had crossed the Mississippi River heading east. In the 1950s, they were introduced into Florida and began heading north. Today, some maps (Georgia Wildlife Web: http://museum.nhm.uga.edu/gawildlife/ gaww.html) show them to be restricted to South Georgia but, in fact, they are present as far north as Athens and Rome, Georgia. They occur throughout the South from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas through Missouri, eastern Tennessee and into South Carolina. They are currently absent from North Carolina but are likely to continue to move northward along the coast and into the Piedmont. Because they do not tolerate cold temperatures (below about 36 degrees F), several studies suggest that farther northward migration into the Appalachian Mountains will be limited.
Armadillos are not my favorite animals. I don’t like to see them killed by our dogs, but I would just as soon they would go back home to Texas.
Bummer for that armadillo. I’ve never seen one and probably never will.
I see them commonly as roadkill in west central Missouri, and I’ve seen a number of live ones in my Ozark woods.
I understand that they are a vector for leprosy, so you might watch Zeke for any signs.
Also, I read somewhere that the reason they are expanding their range into North America now (rather than in centuries past) is because their primary predator is now gone: Native Americans had hunted and eaten them. At least that’s what the article said.
Robin — I mentioned that turtles are perhaps not the smartest of creatures. Armadillos are even worse.
Paul — I have also read that our particular armadillo, the nine-banded armadillo, can carry leprosy. According to one source, up to half of them are carriers. Another reason I would prefer that they go back home to Texas.
However, I read up some on a CDC website about leprosy and apparently there is not much risk of contracting leprosy from casual contact with an armadillo. Also, and this was a surprise to me, around 95 percent of humans have a natural immunity to leprosy. The CDC still recommends avoiding contact with armadillos, and I agree.