We are in Harris Neck National wildlife Refuge in Georgia when we come across a nine-banded armadillo.These weird little dudes are about 2.5 feet long and can weigh up to 12 pounds. They have nine movable rings of bumpy armor, and a ringed armored tail. They don’t have front teeth but they have pegged back teeth. They have sharp claws for finding food and digging burrows, which can be 15 feet deep! They dig in the soil for food like grubs, insects, larvae and eggs, and they have a long sticky tongue to extract insects. If this one wanted to, it could cross this creek by walking under water because they can hold their breath for six minutes, or they can inflate their abdomen and float across. When startled, armadillos can jump straight up: up to three feet in the air. We’ll leave this one to its foraging.
