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Earlier this week Jeff told me he saw an armadillo as he was leaving for work wandering around our yard. I was pretty excited, because armadillos are common to our area, but you rarely see them alive.
Armadillos have poor eyesight and their instinct when scared is to freeze and then jump up into the air very high to scare the predator. That does not go well when the predator is a car, and they usually don’t survive………
So, you can imagine I was pretty excited when I saw one outside the next morning. I got all the kids outside and we watch him run around and reviewed what we knew of armadillos.
Armadillos are nocturnal, that means they usually come out at night. They can’t see very well, but can smell very well. The bad eyesight was reinforced when we heard him bump into several things in the bushes.
Armadillos like to dig A LOT. We looked at the holes in the ground he had dug last night, which you can see behind him. I asked the kids why they dig, what are they trying to get, and they answered “bugs,” and they were right. Armadillos eat primarily grubs and insects in the ground.
When I asked how they dig, they said they have claws on their front feet like Mac (our dog) does. He can dig tunnels like Mac tries to also.
armadillo moving
One thing that surprised me was how noisy he was on the sidewalk. His claws are so long in front that they clicked rather loudly in the morning air.
And of course Batman had to pretend to be an armadillo and move just like the armadillo did……. It was great.
Comments
12 responses to “Science Sunday: Armadillo”
VERY cool! I've always wanted to see an armadillo!
SO Cool!!Ive never seen anything like that close =)
I think it's great that you brought the kids outside to see him! They sound like interesting animals – too funny that he was bumping into things, lol! We never see armadillos in Minnesota, but now I wish we did. (We did see a raccoon in our yard a few nights ago!)
Thanks for hosting this, Ticia!:)
This is so cool! I have never seen an armadillo in real life.
That is something I would love to see. I have only seen one at a zoo – the idea of them just co-existing with you is just wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the linky! This is a fun hop. I love kid's science projects! We'll have to start doing more!!!
Michelle
https://www.heartfeltbalancehandmadelife.blogspot.comHi Ticia, Thanks for hosting, really sorry but the hedgehog seems to have gone on twice, but the second did not take the link. My computer crashed, and it all went a bit strange.
Emma @sciencesparks
We saw lots of dead armadillos in Georgia. I never knew they lived that far east… My husband saw a live on in our yard (digging big holes in our new sod!) one night, but I was away and missed it. He tried to videotape it but it was too dark. I'd love to see a live one. Great post!
That is so completely awesome!
I always ran into armadillos when we lived in Austin. Usually I was walking the dog. Not a good thing. Oh, and when an armadillo jumps to scare the predator (your dog) it will startle you. You might scream a little like a tiny girl. But that is just what I have heard. 😉 lol
Love it! I've never seen an armadillo outside the zoo 🙂
That is so cool!
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