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.

[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.

[gunxshyed.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[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!

[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!

[florahart]

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

[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 ;)

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[akahannah.livejournal.com]

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

[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]

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.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha! I'd forgotten about that!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ooh, hedgehogs? Are they 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

[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!

[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 :).