Illustration by Peter Sucheski
Twenty years ago, the sight of an armadillo in Missouri was nearly unheard of. But thanks to increasingly mild winters, the cold-intolerant invasive species continues to creep north from Texas, with tracked sightings primarily in the southern half of Missouri, but a few individuals have been reported as far north as the Missouri-Iowa state line. The sightings have increased so much, news reports say that Missouri is “on the cusp of the armadillo invasion.” Don’t panic just yet. Although Tom Meister, wildlife damage biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says his direct contact with armadillos has been minimal, his job is to educate landowners on how to deal with the burrowing mammal and, of course, provide fun facts to curious readers. Here’s what to know should you encounter one of our new funny-looking friends from the Lone Star State.
- The nine-banded armadillos spotted in Missouri are the size of house cats, have a life span of five years in the wild, and have shells a little softer than that of a turtle. They’re non-monogamous and travel alone, so you won’t find a family of armadillos camping out in your backyard (and babies leave their mothers around six months anyway).
- If you see a dead armadillo on the side of a highway, it was most likely not crushed but instead hit: These critters instinctively jump in the face of danger—aligning them perfectly with the grill of a midsize vehicle.
- “People ask, ‘Can I just shoot them?’ and the answer is no,” says Meister. “You cannot kill them just because they’re there.”
- You should definitely not eat armadillo. Their low body temperature is ideal for cultivating the bacterium that causes leprosy, which can only be passed on to humans if the meat is ingested.
- Armadillos can walk on the bottom of a river or creek for up to six minutes with one breath, and they can inflate their intestines, allowing them to swim.
- Although armadillos are mammals and therefore warm-blooded, they have a low body temperature, hence their intolerance of cold weather. This feature also helps slow their metabolism, meaning that they need less to eat.
- The animals have strong snouts and claws to dig for their food or to seek cover. They eat mostly grubs and insects, says Meister, but “they may not pass up a lizard or a worm.”
- Their burrowing tendencies can be a nuisance for property owners, but Meister says the animals help oxygenate the soil. Armadillos till your land for free!
- Armadillos have terrible eyesight and hearing and rely on their noses and fine whiskers on their bellies to guide them through terrain and toward food.
- They have no canines, so they can’t bite anything. Their teeth are merely little posts used for grinding.
