Jackson County Armadillo

18 years ago

I was driveing home from work today on 50 highway east of 291 in Lee's Sumit and saw what appeared to be a DOA armadillo on the side of the road. I thought, "that cant be right, maybe it was a mutilated snapping turtle" so I turned around and parked in front of it. Sure enought, it was a armadillo. The only ones Ive seen this far north have been maybe a hour south of Sedalia. Who knows? It may of been an unwanted pet or maybe they are moveing north. Ill keep my eyes out for more.

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Comments (13)

herpfriend
18 years ago
Armadillos are definately moving north. I have seen them around St. Louis, and one near Odessa. There have been reports of them even being found in southern Nebraska. The milder winters is allowing them to move farther north.
wayne_mo
18 years ago
They are moving north. I have seen dead ones on I-70 near Columbia more than once and near Warrenton at least a couple times. Granted this far north the dead ones I see are maybe two times a year and not like in SW Missouri where I might see 6 DOAs in a day, but its possible to see DOA ones almost anywhere in Missouri.

I still haven't seen a live one in Missouri. Have seen some in Texas and Georgia. Cool animal in my opinion.
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Damage?!? You want to know about damage?? We just put in, this year, a raised bed around our azaleas and gardenias that line the front of our house and for WEEKS I shot killer looks at every loose dog in our neighborhood (yes, people ignore the leash law)thinking it was a dog's (had THAT happen before too!) doing (we only have cats and a caged rabbit). Then, as if it wasn't bad enough having to replant or toss, EVERY SINGLE MORNING,the flowers that I had planted between the bushes, our female rabbit, Bea, died, poor baby. We had to re-bury her FOUR times!!! We have several 'dillas that live around here, we're in mid-Alabama, right on the Georgia line. You can stand on our roof and see the Chatahoochee River. And now that I know that they carry the leprosy virus I'm gettin' out the gun, even if it DOES make me fall backwards and wet my britches, I've got kids and grandkids! Sometimes you just have to use the brain God gave us and do the right thing... No offence meant... Nancy
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Slowly, over time, they are adapting to colder weather. When we bought our first house in Texas in 1984, they were already there in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, but the general consensus was they couldn't survive further north than the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Here we are 25 years later, and they have traveled much further north than the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I expect that, in the next 20-25 years, they'll make it to northern Oklahoma. Armadilloes, by the way, are also adapting to colder weather and are increasingly found in northeastern states where they've not been known to live previously. I think fire ants will always be with us. They are horrible here in Love County. I mostly manage them with organic techniques, but once every three or four years they seem especially bad and then I break down a buy a chemical product that has proven to be very effective for us called "Come And Get It". I think I last used "Come and Get It" in 2006. Some of our neighbors have also had success with a newer chemical product called "Over and Out", but I haven't tried that one. You can't use these chemical fire ant products around food crops though, so when fire ants get out of hand in the veggie garden or under the fruit trees, I use an organic spinosad-based product. Diane, the first few years we were here, scorpions got us all the time. I completely stopped wearing any shoe that had open heels or open hoes (no sandals!) for 5 or 6 years because the scorpions would get me every single time I stepped out of the house in shoes like that. The last few years, though, I've hardly seen any scorpions and I don't think one has bitten me since about 2003 or 2004. I don't know, nor care, where they went, but I hope they stay there. I finally started wearing flip-flops, sandals and open-toed shoes occasionally although only if I am just passing through the yard on my way to the car. I still can't wear sandals around the yard or garden because of all the venomous snakes, but I wear them to town. Dawn
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Dorothy, We had problem with small animals squeezing through the 2" x 3" openings in our fence! I didn't expect that. So, bit by bit, I went back and wired 1" chicken wire to the bottom 2 feet of fenceline. With 400' of fenceline around the garden, it has taken me forever. I just do a little here and a little there. I still have about 100' to go, but that side of the garden faces the woods, and so far not many critters have come in from that side. They'll more prone to come in from the pasture land to the east or south or from the 'yard' area from the west. We put up that cheap woven deer fence/netting around Maddie's Garden (it got too hot before we put up the picket fence, so the picket fence is on the fall/winter project list) and it has kept most critters out, but snakes keep getting caught in the 1" openings and usually they're dead by the time we find them stuck in the netting....or they're dead shortly thereafter. I guess it is good the netting is keeping the snakes out of her garden...and the heat is keeping her out of her garden too! It is so hot today that the grasshoppers have the entire outdoors to themselves! In the past when we had major armadillo issues, it did always seem like there were several at a time...never just one. A friend of ours had a 'raccoon' problem once and trapped and shot 1 raccoon per night for 18 consecutive nights, and they still got all his corn before he got all of them. None of us would have guessed he had not 1 or 2 or 3 raccoons, but 18 of them, would we? It was astonishing. The squirrels, which normally are not a problem for us, are becoming a problem too as it becomes hotter and drier. There's not a fence that keeps them out! Dawn
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mitchell_m
18 years ago
Thats wierd, because I swear I saw a DOA here in Indiana two days ago, but never turned around to look because other people were with me. If it was one, it was probably a released/escaped pet.
Gary2sons_MO
18 years ago
They seem to be quite a lot here in Camden county. Very rare several years ago but see DOR's almost daily. Definitely moving farther North each year.

We saw our first live ones last year while driving the roads at night looking for copperheads. Saw a total of two which was as exciting as finding snakes. Almost got film on both but they took off when I got within a few feet both times.
kcmatt
18 years ago
I saw one on 470 in Kansas City last year.
ChrisMO
18 years ago
Anyone ever wonder if the armadillo's native habitat is Dead on a Road? I think there is a scientific argument here (based on field observations of course) ...
KeithB
18 years ago
They are in Jackson county I am sure. I believe they have extended their range up to the SE corner of Nebraska and above I-70 in most of Missouri from East to West.
northernIL
18 years ago
Armadillos seem to be doing very well and are definitely moving north. They have become extremely common in Wayne and Carter counties. I saw a DOR near Rend Lake in Illinois a couple years ago.

Scott
serpentryan
18 years ago
I have also seen DOR's and DOA's in Jefferson and St. Charles County Missouri.

Ryan
webkat5
18 years ago
I have heard that they "hitch" rides on over-the-road trucks coming from Texas and so forth...could explain all of the DOR's.
northernIL
18 years ago
I think there are a lot of DOR armadillos simply because they are slow, and wont move from the path of oncoming traffic. Also, some people dont like them, jus tlike snakes, and will hit them on purpose.
wduzak
18 years ago
We had the same debate here in Tennessee on where the dead ones were coming from when we weren't seeing any live ones...until a friend pointed out - and he and I spend a lot of time in the woods - when was the last time we had seen a live possum during the day. Or for that matter a live rattlesnake.
They're here in Tennessee but not in numbers to make them a common sight, except when they run afoul of cars.
They also have the bad habit of leaping straight up when startled. I guess its a defense measure that works well in the wild but is counter-productive on the highways.
Possums have the same kind of bad habits. When confronted with 2,000 pounds of steel and plastic coming toward them at 60 mph, they - bless their hearts - try to intimidate the vehicle by puffing up and exposing their sharp little teeth.
herpfriend
18 years ago
Armadillos are not slow! They can outrun humans for short distances, although we are not very fast compared to most four legged animals. Armadillos have poor eyesight and probably can't see a car approaching until it is too late. And, like most mammals, the bright lights of the vehicle temporarily blind and/or disorient them.

Jackson County Armadillo

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herpfriend

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