Little armoured one
Its name is Spanish for little armoured one. The shell is bone covered in tough skin.
The Andes
Nine-banded armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
A small animal in a suit of bony armour, with bands across its middle, a pointed snout and tall ears.
- Size
- About 75cm long with the tail
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Grassland and forest from the southern United States to Argentina
Trots after you, snuffling at the ground. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Armadillo
Good to know
Six things about the armadillo
Always quads
The mother nearly always has four babies, and all four are identical.
A jump of fright
When startled it leaps straight up, as much as a metre into the air.
Two ways across
To cross water it either walks along the bottom holding its breath, or gulps air and floats.
It cannot roll up
Only the three-banded armadillos can roll into a ball. This one runs for its burrow.
A nose for grubs
It can smell insects 20 centimetres under the ground, and digs them out with strong claws.
The real thing
Photos of the armadillo
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look at dusk for a small, busy shape trotting along with its nose down. It has poor eyesight and may walk right up to you.
How to help
Armadillos are doing well and spreading north. Many are hit on roads at night, so careful driving helps.
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