[kellyhound]

When they're rooting around for dinner, though, that may put them in an enemy's line of sight. If danger strikes, how does an armadillo react?

Often, armadillos will stand motionless for a moment to see if the predator will ignore them. If that doesn't work, they do what we probably would do if confronted by a scary animal -- run and hide.

Though they have poor vision, armadillos are good at finding cover or a burrow to scurry into in the heat of attack.

When threatened, armadillos are also known to jump straight up in order to startle the predator. After that, it'll hoof it to the nearest safe spot.

The three-banded armadillo has another trick up its armor, however. It is the only type of armadillo that can roll itself into a ball when endangered.

Folding its body in half, the three-banded armadillo tucks its head and legs into its shell. It then curls its tail beside the head and pulls in tight.

Since the top of the head and the tail are armored as well, the end result leaves virtually no exposed flesh for a predator to hurt.

Remember, though, that you won't witness an armadillo pull this stunt on the side of the road in the United States.

North America only is home to the non-balling, nine-banded armadillo.

The key to the three-banded armadillo's defense mechanism is in its shell. A combination of bone and a tough tissue coating, its shell is called a carapace (which, by the way, is the same term for a turtle's shell).

About 2,000 tiny scales, or scutes, are composed of the protein keratin and make up the carapace. The carapace is divided into the anterior scapular shield over its forequarters and the posterior pelvic shield over its hindquarters.

Between those two shields are a series of bands that vary depending on the armadillo species.

These softer bands look like an accordion and allow for mobility. In most armadillos, the two shields are attached to the skin on all sides.

Not so for the three-banded kind. Its shields are unattached along its lateral sides, and it has extra room between the skin and the shell for tucking in.

[zin0]

[CrunchyCripple]

Must make armadillo collecting easier.
I wonder if they get violent when you pick them up while in defensive ball mode. Lol

[Bastet]

That was swift! Looks like a basketball

[Sharon]

I love this video

[kawaiiferret13]

He looks so cute.

[JoltedJoLynn]

Until it gives you leprosy

Originally Posted by kawaiiferret13 ↗

He looks so cute.

[1776]

They are pretty dumb if you stand still in their path they will literally walk around you like any other object and won't see you as a creature unless you make a substantial movement.

They have lots of pink pork-like meat although I don't really care for all the fat packed under the shell and they need a strong spicy sauce to compensate for the earthy flavor they pick up chewing on roots and such all day.

Leprosy isn't really an issue at least in the US the creatures can be carriers but they don't live long enough to suffer from it themselves and as for humans most white Americans have been immune for a good thousand years and I don't think anyone has been treated for the disease in the US due to armadillo contact.

In south America people have caught leprosy from Armadillos but I reckon they are safer to eat than a pig or rabbit and should be handled and cooked the same.

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by JoltedJoLynn ↗

Until it gives you leprosy

Only the 9 banded ones could carry it and not the 3 banded as the one in the vid :

Armadillos are the only other animals besides humans to host the leprosy bacillus.

In 2011, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article formally linking the creature to human leprosy cases—people and armadillos tested in the study both shared the same exact strain of the disease.

So, what’s unique about armadillos that make them good carriers? Likely a combination of body temperature and the fragile nature of the disease.

As the New York Times reports, leprosy is a “wimp of a pathogen." It’s so fragile that it dies quickly outside of the body and is notoriously difficult to grow in lab conditions.

But with a body temperature of just 90 degrees, one hypothesis suggests, the armadillo presents a kind of Goldilocks condition for the disease—not too hot, not too cold. Bacterial transmission to people can occur when we handle or eat the animal.

But before you start to worry about epidemics or making armadillo eradication plans, find comfort in this: Though Hansen’s disease, as it is clinically known, annually effects 250,000 people worldwide, it only infects about 150 to 250 Americans.

Even more reassuring: up to 95 percent of the population is genetically unsusceptible to contracting it. And these days, it is highly treatable and not nearly as contagious as once believed.

And as for armadillos—the risk of transmission to humans is low. Only the nine-banded armadillo is known to carry the disease.

And, most people in the U.S. who come down with the chronic bacterial disease get it from other people while traveling outside the country.

And it looks like armadillos are the real victims here. Scientists believe that we actually transmitted leprosy to them about 400 to 500 years ago. Today, up to 20 percent of some armadillo populations are thought to be infected.

At least, according to one researcher at the National Hansen’s Disease Program in Baton Rouge, the critters rarely live long enough to be seriously effected by the disease’s symptoms.

Experts say the easiest way to avoid contagion is to simply avoid unnecessary contact with the critters. And, of course, they advise not to go hunting, skinning or eating them

[FunkPumpkin]

If they do that when they're gassy, do they dutch oven themselves?