Did you know there are armadillos in lower SC? Some people near

[raccoon]

Walterboro told me there are lots of them.

I wouldn't think the little critters would come to upper SC and GA. It seems it would be harder to burrow in the red clay.

[Solly Mack]

1. They have established themselves in both places, yes.

I'm from Georgia and I've seen Armadillos there.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Armadillos as far north as Carrollton, GA -- fifteen years ago.

They've been moving north for decades.

[greendog]

3. Recently I saw one a few miles south of St. Louis, MO.

[progressoid]

4. How about Nebraska.

Armadillos Migrating Into Nebraska
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/565/armadillos_migrating_into_nebraska/


http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/state-and-regional/armadillo-found-in-central-nebraska/article_428bb06b-8d8f-5902-9d97-7aae6e27e01e.html

[csziggy]

5. I live in the red hills of North Florida and we have armadillos

The ridge my farm is on is solid red clay and the little cuties have no problem digging big housing complexes.

I think armadillos are adorable. It's too bad they can also be destructive.

[GoCubsGo]

15. Have you ever seen their babies?

Cute as can be:

[csziggy]

16. Oh yes - one burrow had a half dozen babies

Wandering around. We were on horseback in the bottom of one of the pastures, and the armadillos took no notice of us since they just thought we were the horses they live with.

We got to watch the armadillo family for a long while, until my husband made a comment. As soon as they heard a voice, they all dove into the burrow to hide.

I haven't been into that part of the pasture for a couple of years, but last I saw the burrow was still active and the armadillos were thriving. It's a good location - on the edge of a pasture with grass and pines up the hill and oaks with other scattered hardwoods in the wooded area down the hill.

[Recursion]

6. There are no living armadillos in the US

The highway patrol spreads corpses on the highway to keep up the illusion.

[CottonBear]

7. Possums on the half shell.

They mostly don't survive crossing roads.

They also carry diseases. If trapping and relocating them from your yard and garden (where they have burrowed), it is advisable to use gloves.

They are all over Northeast Georgia. Didn't used to be here 10 or 12 years ago.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

10. On the other hand,

a article came out recently stating that many opossums are playing opossum because of traffic and asked that drivers avoid running over "dead" opossums in the road. It also stated that they kill 95% of the tics they encounter, higher then any other animal, thus helping in the fight against Lyme's disease!


http://www.caryinstitute.org/discover-ecology/podcasts/why-you-should-brake-possums

Edit: to add link

[csziggy]

17. When I was a kid they were just spreading out from Tampa

They had come in one some ship and were introduced to Central Florida in the 50s or 60s.

As a teenager horseback riding all over the place in the mid to late 60s it was unusual to see them along the roads in Polk County, but they became more common. When I moved up to Leon County in the 70s, there were no armadillos around here. We didn't start seeing them until the 80s. Now they are everywhere here and we see them as often as we see possums.

The claim used to be that an armadillo's response to being surprised was that it would jump straight up so if the surprise was a car passing over them, it'd hit the undercarriage and be killed.

[Eleanors38]

23. Seen them Gainesville & points south for over 50 yrs.

Also in the movie Dracula (1931). When hunting deer in Texas, I've heard them nearby long before I've seen them -- famously noisy.

[texanwitch]

8. I remember my Father calling them Hoover hogs.

Some people ate them during the depression in the 30's.

[raccoon]

11. In the book ALAS, BABYLON, it says that they're considered a delicacy in some parts of

Latin America.

[sharp_stick]

12. I think the term delicacy is overrated

and is often used by chef's who make bets with each other.

Hey Bob, I'll bet you a new chef's knife I can make that pretentious prick at table 6 eat a bunch of pig anus and pay top dollar for the privilege.

[texanwitch]

13. I asked my father if he ate one and he said yes.

Lots of people did.

It was a tough time.

[Lars39]

9. They're in TN now, too.

[GoCubsGo]

14. They've been here since at least the early 1990s.

They beat the coyotes here, and they're in most of the upstate areas, as well.

It's amazing what they can burrow into. I've seen burrows in ground that's as hard as concrete.

[whistler162]

18. Saw a Armadillo crossing the road just outside of Elbridge NY

during the summer.

[raccoon]

19. Why did the armadillo cross the road? nt

[whistler162]

22. Since it was going north it likely

was just wandering not doing the sensible thing and heading south.

[Skittles]

20. not true

the paper bags I get from the liquor store here have "Armadillo Territory" clearly depicted as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas

[zabet]

21. I live in NC

on an extremely large tract of land. I deal with the local Wildlife officers regularly because of the healthy Black bear population. Yes, bears actually walk through my yard on occassion and this passed summer I watched a big sow raise 2 healthy cubs.

That said, the Wildlife Officers have asked me have I seen any armadillos....in person or on any of the multiple game cameras I have around the house (which sits on the riverbank). They request to be notified immediately. So there is concern that they are spreading further and faster than they predicted.