Oh wow, a most interesting critter when out in the woods, but not one we especially want to see in our garden!

haha!

And when they die - the worst smell!

Bostedo, "though that might have actually been me :-)" ... made me laugh out loud.

That looks like a young one. He's cute! I've never had one in my garden, but friends tell me they dig and plow through the soil, uproot plants, and make a general mess of things while looking for grubs.

Max, my Fox terrier/Basenji mix loved to dig for grubs and eat them. Apparently, he could either hear or smell exactly where they were. At first I thought it was fine and dandy. Wow! I've got a grub eliminating dog!

But then when he'd leave all those little holes in the grass it wasn't so nice anymore. I could never break him of it.

If they burrow under a building that is sitting on blocks they will total destabilize the whole building. I also had one burrow under the concrete slab that the air-conditioning condensing unit sits on and it's pretty hollow under there.

I've already captured three Opossums in the last year and carted them off to the nature sanctuary! I catch them in a garbage can. They climb in but can't get out! LOL

The Armadillos are almost blind at night and you can sneak up on them and grab them by the tail. In the pic with his tail sticking out you might have a chance to grab him but if he hooks his claws into the ground it's almost impossible unless you're very strong. They will dig up everything.

We were hiking around Lost Maples Park one time when some "Yankee" tourists were startled by an armadillo. They were about to run for dear life when this crazy Texan (me) went over and grabbed it by the tail. As it wiggled they screamed and I giggled.

I'm so bad sometime ...! It wasn't hurt and ran on off when I put it down.

LOLOLOL God Bless their little Yankee Hearts

I was walking with my 7 yr old son and a very religious baptist friend of his out at Enchanted rock . I heard this really weird knocking noise. I walked towards it and found a young male "knocking up" his girl. You should have heard the ruckus, a hollow knocking sound echoing off the granite walls of the cliff.. Just plain weird, I tell you. The friend covered his eyes but couldn't run so he covered his ears and took off running away. I had to run after him so he would not break his neck or step on a snake in his blind rush. I told him that if he wanted to come back to our house again, he might think about what he felt important to tell his mom. I told him that the animals were doing what animals do. I guess he never told on the wildlife because he was a guest at our house a lot.....Oh I am a lost yankee that got misplaced. Think I was misplaced when I was born.

Maybe the "Yanks" were screaming because they were afraid it was going to give you leprosy...... uhhh, probably not. Don't know of the actual risk, but a good thing to be aware of when wrangling armadillos.

I remember hearing that about Leprosy and Armadillos years ago!

Who was it that said "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could" LOL

I love Enchanted Rock area haven't been there in a while, lucky you Wantonamara!

We had a Skunk last year that somehow got in a fenced back yard. The dogs found him but luckily only got sprayed a tiny bit and we brought them inside right away. Needless to say, we couldn't relocate him... Even after we buried the remains the whole yard smelled for 4-5 days. yuck! They are notorious for carrying rabies. Skunks and fox both high rabies carriers.

We had to shoot a rabid fox last year where we raise our cattle. There are two behaviors that they will exhibit, either very aggressive/attacking or kind of a dazed look staggering around/blank stare, which is what this one was doing. If fact it was dusk and the cattle saw him first. They all turned his direction standing in attention. We were looking out in a pasture that direction then gave up because we didn't see anything. Then I looked down and he was about 5' from us.

We've had a few armadillo excavations over the years here in soft, sandy soil. Usually they dig about a 3' X 3' hole!

I heard from a wildlife rehabber ( Marilyn_C) that the armadillo infected with leprosy was actually quite rare.

It is commonly excepted animals have innate ability to swim. Do you think armadillos can swim? What about hogs?

Armadillos crossed the Mississippi a while back (1980s?). They either swam or hitched a ride. Many of us who lived east of the river at that time initially mistook them for possums on the half shell.

Oh, I love Armadillos! (Not in my yard, of course.) Those pics are so cute, Sylvia!

We went hiking at Dinosaur Valley in Glen Rose this past Saturday, and saw one. Sorry to say, it wasn’t alive. Weirdly, it was right in the middle of a busy trail and had clearly been there a while.

Used to come across them in pastures while riding horses. Not sure who was more startled— my horse or them. Had one exploring our back patio one night, looking in on us through the back door. :D

Re: Enchanted Rock .... My husband is a NY (LI) transplant and says that about getting here as fast as he could. :) He’s been a rock climber for over 20 yrs, so I had to take him to there a few months after he moved here. We love it, can’t wait to go again. He proposed to me there. :)

Back to dillos — of course we have jokers around here who put a longneck beer bottle in the arms of Armadillos belly up on roads.

Armadillo becoming a basketball:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYgj4kMZUo

I am surprised how far East I've seen them.

There were no armadillos along Red River in far North Tx until early 60s. The first one I saw was near Tyler about 1952.

Armadillos are amazing creatures. I used to hate it that deer/turkey hunters would shoot them on sight because they believed they ate turkey eggs.

Also read that very few of them are infected with TB. If they are infected it's passed on through the butchering process of preparing them for the table, "possums on the half shell", not simply from touching them.

One account said they picked up TB when rummaging in a TB sanatorium garbage heap in Louisiana.

Klem, one of the links above said armadillos can swim by inflating themselves with air, or they can hold their breath for several minutes while they walk along the river bottom. I don't know anything about hogs, but young pigs used to perform regularly at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos.

Yes, they do get around and have spread far and wide. They've been spotted in my neighborhood. As much as I respect them I hope they don't come in my yard.

When I arrived in Austin from the Chicago area, armadillos still had their World Headquarters there. ;-) I had lived coast to coast by then, but Texas was probably the most wonderfully dramatic environmental (and cultural) adjustment. We seem to arrive with some subliminal impressions that things will be bigger, dangers more dangerous, etc. I missed the armadillo rooting 2 or 3 feet away because I was watching each footstep certain that the next one would be onto a lingering copperhead.

A boss I had from the UK told me that a colleague from England who brought his young family with him to southwest Houston for an assignment had initially been keeping their kids in the house due to all the rattlesnakes in the neighborhood. They would have eventually figured it out, but could have helped if someone had thought to tell them about cicadas. Newcomers to Texas expect rattlesnakes, but big noisy bugs??? Probably at least a fragment of truth in that story.

Well a 'dillo is one critter we have not seen at our new cabin in Gause YET. Haven't even seen any on the gravel county road. Have seen a skunk out near the barn one time though. Luckily, we were coming home from Hearne after dinner and in the car; our dog Button was sound asleep in the cabin. We had a dachshund once that cornered a skunk underneath a built-in brick BBQ and he got sprayed full-face. Man, I don't ever want to relive that awful week again. So bad it was making me sick to my stomach to even get around the dog. His personality was changing by week two of our isolating him outside as he was behaving as though he thought we didn't love him anymore. All efforts/products used to de-scent him were short-lived and of little use. The skunk was within 1-2 feet of the dog's face when he let go. :(

Rose said "Klem, one of the links above said armadillos can swim by inflating themselves with air, or they can hold their breath for several minutes while they walk along the river bottom. I don't know anything about hogs, but young pigs used to perform regularly at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos."

In typical fashion,Rose is correct,they do indeed hold their breath and walk across the bottom. Eventhough I was born on a farm,I didn't realize until visiting Aquarena Springs pigs can swim but lose the ability when mature.

I laughed myself to tears the first time I saw a dead dillo alongside the road with legs wraped around an empty beer bottle.

Our cat got sprayed that way and we washed him in peroxide and baking soda or powder dishwashing lotion mixtureand it took 99% of the smell away immediately . You can google it. Living in the country I keep the stuff on hand.

We use a similar mix as Mara. Peroxide, baking soda and liquid dish soap. This will bleach a black dog's fur to a lovely auburn.