It's like hunting aliens': inside the town besieged by armadillos

[douglas9]

In the pitch dark, Jason Bullard adroitly shoulders his rifle and levels it at the object. “That looks like one!” he mutters. It turns out to be a fuse box. Another candidate, again aimed at with the gun, reveals itself as a rock.

In this town besieged by armadillos, anything with a passing similarity to the armored nemesis is under suspicion.

Bullard, an affable man in a camouflaged shirt, with a sonorous voice and prodigious beard, has rapidly gone from never seeing an armadillo in his bucolic corner of western North Carolina to killing 15 of them last year. In just the last two weeks, he has dispatched eight of the animals.


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/15/its-like-hunting-aliens-inside-the-town-besieged-by-armadillos

[DURHAM D]

1. Wow - this is interesting -

Barriers such as rivers aren’t a problem – the animals can hold their breath for up to six minutes and walk on the riverbed, or even inflate their intestines to float across to the other side.

[rzemanfl]

2. When they combine the inflated intestines with propulsion I will be really impressed.

Grossed out too.

[Laffy Kat]

3. Many, many, years ago, there was an ongoing controversy in Memphis....

Whether armadillos could walk from Arkansas to Memphis on the Mississippi River's bottom. I don't think it was ever proven one way or another.

[Haggard Celine]

4. They're gross. Some people call them "possum on the half-shell."

Some of them carry leprosy. If you see one on your property, you'd best consult your pest control people to get rid of it and figure out a way to make sure no more of them come your way.

[Red Pest]

5. These are pretty benign animals, but can cause some property damage when digging for food or shelter

Armadillos are primarily insectivores. They eat small insects like ants, termites, and grubs, as well as other invertebrates. They can carry the bacterium (Mycobacterium leprae) that causes leprosy (or Hansen's Disease). Note that leprosy is difficult to catch (most people appear to be immune). People who do get infected by leprosy are exposed to the bacterium by one or more of the following:
1) Lived in a country where leprosy is more common, such as India, Brazil, China, Indonesia, or parts of Africa
2) Handled an armadillo
3) Spent time outdoors in an area where armadillos live
Even these exposures only rarely lead to infection and disease. Further the disease is very treatable and is very slow to develop.

Oh yeah, the reason why armadillos are the animal reservoir for M. leprae is that these mammals have a relatively low body temperature (33-36 C) compared to humans (37 C). Which is also why the infection develops on the skin and fingers and toes of humans (cooler temperature than our body core).

Of course, those who are hunting armadillos are a greatest risk. A bit ironic.

[Random Boomer]

6. Thanks, that was interesting