Armadillo!

[emmagrant01]

snapetoy posted pictures and a video of kangaroos in her yard, which probably seems utterly mundane to the Aussies on her flist, but totally amazing to me. And then I thought hey, I could post pics and a video of a weird-looking animal very common in my part of the world.

And so I present: The Armadillo.

Most commonly seen dead and squashed on the roads of Texas, these bizarre little creatures are generally nocturnal. But as you see in these pics, they are often out and about at dawn, rooting through your grass for worms and bugs. This one was in my back yard one morning last spring.







And here's video!

Watch on YouTube

What are your weird animals? Got pictures?

Comments

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Armadilloes! Makes me think back of Texas & Louisiana!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Even though I see them a lot, they're so bizarre! :-P

[wendy.livejournal.com]

The ones I see usually look a little more...smashed. Sadly.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I know! The reason I videotaped this one was that it was just calmly rroting around by my deck. I usually only catch glimpses of them as they scurry away, but this one basically ignored me.

[wintermoon3.livejournal.com]

Your armadillo and her kangaroos are both cool! I don't know what "weird animals" we have in Tennessee, though a few years ago a Peacock took up residence in my old neighborhood. I did get a couple pics of him, but they weren't very clear and I'm not sure where they are now. If I find them, I just may have to post them.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Do you have raccoons? I don't think those are too common outside of North America. But a peacock would be interesting!

[gunxshyed.livejournal.com]

OMG *_* So cute! I love them, they're like little armored footballs. Thanks for sharing!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

They're very strange-looking, almost difficult to imagine. But yes, kind of cute!

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

Aww, that makes me all homesick. First time I saw a live armadillo was when I was setting up my telescope out in Columbus and one decided to park itself on my foot before scurrying off under the "safety" of the car.

*misses Texas*

Thanks for sharing the photos, and for the link to the roos!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

They're really shy, but I think they can't see so well. They're apparently also quite fixated on looking for food. I guess the armor protects them from hawks -- there's a lot of hawks in my area.

[florahart]

Unfortunately, my primary association with armadillos is the cake in Steel Magnolias. Heh.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha! I'd forgotten about that!

[damned-queen.livejournal.com]

Oh I never saw one of those before! *lives in Europe and therefor only sees things like hares, bunnies, hedgehogs, and pheasants in her garden*

But if I think of something less common, I'll take some pics and let you know ;)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ooh, hedgehogs? Are they cute?

[daddybear716.livejournal.com]

A rabbit on the front lawn is about all we get in my area, although at time you can smell skunk, but I've never seen one. I live close by our zoo and drive past the giraffe house on my way to work, which I think are the coolest animals alive. We have about 6 or 7 right now, a baby too which is so cute.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of skunks in this area too. Once I was driving to work and saw one crossing the street in my neighborhood, taking its time. I stopped, because you really don't want to hit those, and people behind me started honking -- until they saw the skunk wander out from in front of my car. :-P

[caitlen.livejournal.com]

goodness, that's the most bizarre looking creature ever! When I was in Canada, I remember I'd see a creature, for example a squirrel or something, and I'd be like "OMG LOOK!". Seeing a bighorn sheep or a mountain goat or an elk (or a whole bloody bunch of them) was always a BRILLIANT thing. I have lots of photos of elk.

I guess I should have gotten a photo of the 'roos going across our bottom paddocks this evening, huh ;) Except you've already seen roos in a backyard. Hmm.. Black Swans maybe?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

They're really weird, aren't they? The first time I went to Wyoming to visit my in-laws, they took me to a place where you could see a herd of bison, and I was all, "OMG look at the bison!" And they laughed at me, because bison are no big deal in Wyoming. But for a girl who grew up in the east coast, they were animals from the movies.

Ooh, black swans would be cool!

[dustbunnies710.livejournal.com]

I love livejournal.
You never even think of what animals wonder into the yards of your friends across seas or even across some states.
It's so cool that everyone can share this stuff now.
That armidillo is so cute.

I usually get Turkeys in my year, occasionally a Moose, but that's only happened twice. There was a raccoon once, but he had hydrophobia...awkward.
I've had two Porcupines that were in a tree right next to my house, I thought I had pictures, but I can't seem to find them.
Here I have some pictures of a big turtle crossing the road =]
1.
2.
3.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I know, isn't that the coolest thing? I love the fact that I know people everywhere, and if I have a question about anything in another country, for the most part I just have to ask.

Wow, what kind of turtle is that? For reference, about how big is it? I've never seen a real moose. :-D

[fiona-fawkes.livejournal.com]

I've never seen one move before! They move a little faster than I imagined. Perhaps I just assumed they were slow since I see so many dead on the side of the road. I think you've started a trend here. Videos of backyard wildlife. That thing's kind of like our possum, only with a hard candy shell.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I know! I took this video because it was the closest I'd ever been to a live one in daylight.

It's funny how things that are really common in one area are WTF? in another.

[yodels.livejournal.com]

Ha...like florahart when I hear about armadillos I think of red velvet cake with gray icing.

They are such bizarre animals.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Your icon is adorable! What kind of chicken is that? And is it a baby one?

[zafania.livejournal.com]

armadilloes - cruncy on the outside, sarft on the middle!

we dont have any wierd animals in our back yard, not unless the evil git counts? hes pretty weird

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Evil git?

[akahannah.livejournal.com]

So odd! How can that even be an animal?!

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

i think it's time to unpack the pics of your radioactive turkeys! too bad i didn't catch pics of the skunk that was sniffling around my trash cans the other week as it was quite cute to look at :).

[earth-magic.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's incredible - and I get excited if I see a fox or a squirral in my garden!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Fox? Really?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Wow, that close? They've always been skittish everywhere I've lived. Probably because of all the hunting. :-P

[kriken.livejournal.com]

It's so weird seeing these pictures and videos of animals I've only ever seen in textbooks before!

As for CT... We have a handful of black squirrels and possums - Oh! And a fawn crossed the street in front of me on the way to work the other morning. Not terribly exciting when compared with armadillos and kangaroos :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are people somewhere who would find those animals exotic and interesting, though. :-)

WA state

[lupin-spirit.livejournal.com]

These days the most wildlife we get is the squirrels that taunt and mock Loki our Alaskan Malamute, but before we moved into town, we regularly got eagles, coyotes, deer, porcupines, skunks and the like.

One day a moose walked up to our living room window and just stood there looking at us. Sadly I have no pictures, I was to busy watching him watching us. Didn't occur to me that I should have tried to get a picture until it was over.

Re: WA state

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Moose! I've never seen one!

[lafiammatabella.livejournal.com]

I've been in TX for 6 years and I never saw a live armadillo until about 3 months ago. There's a park by my house that is a bit woodsy and I actually saw a live one rooting around like in your video.

I usually get possums in my backyard, but my dog has a Napoleon complex and must kill them.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

This was the closest I'd ever been to a live one, which was why I took the video! I haven't seen a possum up close since I was a kid and lived in the country.

[trueperception.livejournal.com]

that looks like a very large, very scary rat. like a R.O.U.S.

very creepy.

(btw, i'm not good with animals that aren't cute. armadillos don't look like they would be cute...)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

like a R.O.U.S.

I am quite proud that I get that reference. *polishes geek badge*

[akemi42.livejournal.com]

Man, I have yet to see an Armadillo in Houston...and I've been here 4 years now. *pouts*

[sorion.livejournal.com]

Nice... ^-^

The only wildlife, here, are the neighbours across the street who obviously don't have a TV and therefore stare out their window all day... XDDD

[magnoliafires.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, that's so neat! We've had deer in our yard which isn't really exciting, but my grandparents live in the middle of a forest(Northern-ish Manitoba, Canada) and have black bears, wolverines, and foxes eating off the scraps that they put on a table in front of their kitchen window. They've even had wolves around their yard once or twice.

[snapetoy.livejournal.com]

Truly, it is exciting to me that you have deer in your yard! Isn't the internet wonderful, that we can share all these interesting critters with each other? If you get some photos, please do put them up. :)

[tildathebuilder.livejournal.com]

wow! How amazing, I love armadillos!

We have hedgehogs resident in our garden & garage, not quite as exotic, but still very cute.

[ashe-frost.livejournal.com]

I'm from the Appalachian mountains.. We get: opossom, foxes (or used to, not so much anymore), hedgehogs, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, cougars, bears, skunks, elk (which I don't think are native, but someone released a bunch one year), etc.

Now I live in the city I don't even get birds.

Well, people who live in the suburbs still get some creatures.. But me.. not so much.

I don't really miss it.