On the recent few days that our temperatures have reached the mid-40s or higher, a few folks have told me they have been seeing armadillos.
Armadillos exist only in the Americas with South America home to all 20 species. Only the nine-banded armadillos migrated to the United States. A similar but larger armadillo lived in what is now Missouri during the Pleistocene period but disappeared at the end of the last ice age.
Armadillos are in the order Cingulata and the family Dasypodidae. The nine-banded armadillo”s scientific name Dasypus novemcinctus is derived from Dasypus, the Greek word for rabbit, combining novem “nine” with cinctus “band.” So, you have a “nine-banded rabbit.” The Spanish name armadillo means “little armored one.” Oddly enough, their closest living relatives are sloths and anteaters.
The nine-banded armadillo was first documented in Texas in 1849. Northward expansion is hampered by the animals’ low resistance to cold temperatures. They have almost no body fat reserves and must forage constantly. Their range has expanded as far north as Nebraska and east to Florida. The current US population estimate is between 30-50 million.
The nine-banded armadillos (some may have 7-11 bands) overall length ranges from 25-42 inches and weighs from 5-14 pounds. Their scutes or armor is formed by plates of dermal bone and is their main defense against predators, but their underside is covered with soft skin.
There is a common misconception that the nine-banded armadillo can roll up into a spherical ball for protection. In reality, only two species of armadillos (both 3 banded) can rollup completely. Armadillos have a jumping response when surprised or alarmed which sometimes startles their predator just long enough for them to escape, but is a decided disadvantage in their encounter with automobiles. They also have a gland at the rear of their tail that emits a musky odor.
Predators of armadillos include coyotes, dogs, black bears, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, and of course, man. Hawks, owls and feral pigs may also prey on young armadillos.
Armadillos have poor eyesight and hearing, but a very good sense of smell which they use to find food. They cannot tolerate hot weather so they shift their foraging to night during summer.Armadillos have two methods for crossing bodies of water. They can hold their breath for up to six minutes so they simply hold their breath and walk across the bottom of streams. For crossing larger bodies of water they increase buoyancy by swallowing air to inflate their stomachs and intestines and float across.
Armadillos are generalist feeders using almost 500 different food sources, but 75% of their diet consists of insects. They spend their waking hours eating. They dig with their claws, push their nose into the loosened soil, shoots out its sticky tongue to collect a meal and immediately digs another hole. Since it’s tongue is not selective, the feast includes an occasional earthworm, snake or skink, as well as rock and earth. The armadillo scat understandably resembles clay marbles.
Armadillos do not hibernate. Moderate climate is necessary to their survival. They cannot endure long periods of freezing weather. To escape the cold, they retreat underground by digging burrows 7-8” in diameter and up to 15’ in length. Burrows are often located in rock piles, around stumps, brush piles and in dense woods. They may have several different burrow locations in a specific area used to escape predators.
In North America, nine-banded armadillos usually mate in July and August with young not being born until spring 8 months later. This unusually long gestation period results because the female releases only one ovum per year. After summer mating and fertilization, the implantation of the embryo in the uterine wall normally is delayed about 14 weeks. The embryo buds twice producing monozygotic young resulting in genetically identical quadruplets born in the spring.
Implantation may be put off as long as two years apparently when the females’ environment isn’t favorable to pups.
Armadillos are sometimes carriers of leprosy due to their low body temperature of 93 degrees, which is hospitable to leprosy bacterium. In studies conducted in the 1970s, leprosy was detected in 15-20% of armadillos in Texas and Louisiana. In no other state has leprosy been found in armadillos. There is some data that suggests, that in Texas and Louisiana, leprosy was contracted through the soil.
Armadillos have long been a source of food for humans. The nine-banded armadillo was nicknamed “Hoover’s Hog” and “poor man’s pork” by people who blamed President Hoover for the Great Depression.
Under section 3CSR10-4.130 of the wildlife code of Missouri you can legally trap or kill armadillos that ate causing damage to your property. Be sure to check your local city or county ordinances.
In nature nothing is created, nothing lost, everything changes.
-Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier
