After 14 years in Texas, I FINALLY saw one! (Amarillo, Brownsville: house, neighborhoods)

[teatime]

An armadillo!!!!!!!! I took my son and his girlfriend to Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap for dinner this evening and then we decided to drive through Abilene State Park. LOL, I had just told my son's girlfriend that I still had NEVER seen an armadillo -- not even a dead one on the side of the road! She couldn't believe it as armadillos root around the backyard of her family's home near McKinney all of the time.

Well, we passed through the park gate and drove maybe 20 feet when she yelled, "Hey, there's one!" Sure enough, maybe 4 feet off the road was a young armadillo. We stopped the car and got out to look at it -- it just stood there calmly munching on something and looking at us. How cute!!!!!

We also saw a doe and two fawns close to the road. The babies weren't afraid of us at all. Mama looked at us briefly and then scooted the babies back over a wire fence. It was funny, we kept seeing does in fields (and one in the middle of the road!) all the way back to Abilene.

We had a very pleasant evening around Buffalo Gap! For anyone who hasn't been, it's very, very pretty country!

[NOTAM]

wow. amazing ya aint seen one til now! when i lived in North Texas, just up the road from you about an hour, i had one who hung out at my house all the time. but ya know, funny thing is, i saw more armadillos dead and alive in my three year tour at Ft Stewart GA than i ever have in Texas!
and teatime, i was fixin to email ya since i hadn't heard from ya and no signs of life on CD. was gettin worried! glad to know you are ok and having fun

[teatime]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

wow. amazing ya aint seen one til now! when i lived in North Texas, just up the road from you about an hour, i had one who hung out at my house all the time. but ya know, funny thing is, i saw more armadillos dead and alive in my three year tour at Ft Stewart GA than i ever have in Texas!
and teatime, i was fixin to email ya since i hadn't heard from ya and no signs of life on CD. was gettin worried! glad to know you are ok and having fun

Heh, they are SO cute! Now I want one as a pet, hahahahaha.

Yeah, Belle, I was feeling poorly for a while and now I have my son and his girlfriend here visiting. I moved here shortly after he went to Texas Tech so he wants to explore Abilene, too, when he's able to come home. He's just starting to learn the area and his girlfriend really likes Abilene, too, so she loves to come along. It was weird for him, leaving for college and literally leaving behind our former home in Brownsville for good! Abilene is just starting to feel more familiar and "homelike" for him.

[blkgiraffe]

I see them all the time as ROADKILL.

[love roses]

Congratulations I actually see them fairly often. I remember as a kid, my grandpa saw one in his backyard and caught it and brought it in the house for all of us kids to look at. I'm surprised it never bit us But he let us touch it's back and feel how tough it was. He turned it over so we could see how furry and soft its belly was, but he drew the line at letting us touch it's tummy. I guess he figured it WOULD bite us if we did that, since they are protective of that area and that's why they roll in a ball.

[tstone]

I always figured armadillos were commonplace in Texas. Anyway they are all over the place down here. Sometimes they wander into neighborhoods, but they are usually found smashed, on the side of the road.

[High_Plains_Retired]

http://www.animatedfx.net/creatureimages/armadillo-01.jpg (broken link)

[Upper_D_Robb]

Oh, the lovely armadillo !

I am contemplating a move to the Panhandle plains part of your lovely state and was wondering if armadillos can be found in or around Amarillo areas or father east say in Pampa ? I just read Pampa has had some wicked tornadoes in it's past ... I'm trying to learn about your wildlife now !

[teatime]

GREAT pic, High Plains Retired! My son's girlfriend took pics of the little guy on her camera phone and I really need for her to send me a good pic or two.

I spent 13 of my 14 years here in deep South Texas and we just didn't have armadilloes moving about down there. There may have been some in the unpopulated areas but no one ever found one (or several, LOL) in their yards, nor on the side of the road.

They have such cute little faces (love the ears!) and they're entirely gentle creatures. Son's girlfriend said, though, that they can really make a mess out of folks' yards, digging lots of holes to root for worms and such.

Upper-D Rob, I'd imagine they have armadilloes in Amarillo. Abilene is apparently part of the Panhandle Plains region, which I didn't even know until yesterday when I saw info at the state park!

[GoingHome2TX]

They are definately here in South Texas. I've shot two of them that were tearing up the yard since moving back a few months ago. I've seen another four or five out in the brush. I can't even begin to guess how many I have seen splattered on the roads. The key is unpopulated/rural.