1.There are about 20 different species of armadillos. Our state armadillo is the nine-banded armadillo.
2.The armadillo is a distant cousin to both the sloth and the anteater.
3.Their life-span is 12-15 years.
4.The word armadillo means "little armored one" in Spanish.
5.The armadillo has a bony, scaly shell to protect it from prey.
6.Armadillos were once native to South America, but now they range as far north as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kansas.
7.My favorite pose to see an armadillo is when it is upside down holding an empty lone-star beer bottle. This happens first because the armadillo dies, usually because he's been hit by a car. They don't have great eyesight, so they can't see that car coming down the road. They're sometimes called "hillbilly speed bumps." When a good old boy sees it, gets out of his truck, and takes one of his "empties" and places it on the armadillo in memoriam. (You can actually purchase these on eBay!)
8.Armadillos don't usually cause harm to people, but they are wild, so I wouldn't necessarily keep one as a pet, but you can if you want!
9.Some armadillos carry the bacterium that causes leprosy. I bet you're re-thinking that decision to keep one as a pet!
10.The 9-banded armadillo weighs from 5.5 to 14 pounds and stands 15 to 23 inches tall.
11.They mostly eat insects.
12.Armadillos are solitary and nocturnal creatures. 
13.You can eat armadillo (I never have.) During the depression, many people did. They were called "Hoover Hogs" back then. Some people call it possum on the half-shell. Haha! I bet Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies could have cooked up a mean armadillo dinner!
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Interesting post on armadillo. It is well armored. No, I wouldn't want to keep it as a pet nor would I want to eat it.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Texas for 7 years and saw them. I always thought of them as something like an armored opossum because they are so slow.
ReplyDeleteI lived in southern Texas for a while at the Air Force base, and we had them EVERYWHERE! I saw the beer bottle thing all the time, but never knew that. That's pretty interesting!
ReplyDeleteI bet the babies look cute. They look like interesting creatures.
ReplyDeleteThose are some intriguing facts. I confess I have never given armadillos much thought!
ReplyDeleteI love critters in general, and I enjoyed this post a lot!
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