One to Dig To Your Heart
The Armadillo
A lot of people seem to have misconceptions of the armadillo. While I am one person that gleefully welcomes them to migrate further north to my fair state, other people seem to think of them as more of a pest. They have been found as far as Illinois, so it’s only a matter of time until I can adopt one from the wild myself.
Speaking of the wild, they are only native to the Americas. There is a lot of folklore about these cute little fellas, but stories like those do not interest me. I could rattle on for pages about the false tales of misunderstood animals, one especially that of the armadillo. As far as science goes, these guys are quite the handful.
The nine-banded armadillo is the one species out of the many that might be the most interesting to refer specifically. Not only are armadillos the one of few non-human animals that can be infected with leprosy, but the nine-banded armadillo gives birth to four genetically identical quadruplets in each litter. There are very, very few species in the world that are known to possess this unique reproductive ability.
Speaking of ability, the armadillo doesn’t fall short of impressing would be skeptics of how lazy they may perceive the beast. A motorist may drive across a road and see a dead armadillo lying on the side. The immediate conclusion would be to think that it was hit by a car by darting into traffic, but how exactly was it struck? Typically by the fender.
Armadillos can jump rather high for looking so stubby and heavy. There are other animals in the world that give very odd instinctual reactions to being startled such as the genetically engineered fainting goats who go into temporary paralysis if given a good scare. It is thought that the fainting goat experiences no pain, but other animals are not as fortunate.
The armadillo will leap up in the air from a non-moving standing position high enough to be struck by the fender of an automobile. Imagine a car on the road driving and there is an animal in the way. The immediate horn blast scares the poor creature into a leap that places it directly in front of the car. It may be sad, but it is an impressive jumping feat nonetheless.
Other amazing abilities that other species of armadillo possess is the ability to inflate itself with air enough to swim across bodies of water and, quite the opposite, remain underwater for up to six minutes. There is one type that actually rolls up into a ball for defense like the common woodlouse. Though, I would imagine the armadillo has the clear advantage over which has the best defense capability.
Indeed, they are only known to be in the Americas, but what about fossil records? Well, one fossil record found in South America compares the size of the ancient armadillo to that of a car. Ridiculous to think about if it could roll itself into a ball and travel like when all the aliens in Critters 2 combined to form a ball of flesh eating terror. Well, except this guy would crush full sized sedans.
There exist so many species of armadillo, from cute and little to big and hairy. While I will not get into specifics about each and every one, just know that I would enjoy very much so to have one as a pet roaming my home. Of course, one that would not have the instinct to burrow around the basement. I can only imagine what linoleum would do to a set of claws.
