It’s as iconically Texan as Willie Nelson, bluebonnets and brisket. It can be found all over the state, including right here in East Dallas. Keep your eyes open, and you just might spot the official small mammal of Texas: the armadillo. Bonus: It’s baby armadillo season.
Neighbor Stephanie Casey has had a few sightings of these fascinating critters. She’s seen armadillos several times recently in our neck of the woods, one crossing San Mateo Boulevard near Lindsley Park. Another time, she was near the park on Santa Fe Trail when she and her dog spotted an adult armadillo and a baby.
“They didn’t seem concerned about us,” Stephanie says, “and the baby ran right towards me and my dog when it saw us. I shooed it away not knowing what my dog or the adult armadillo might do if the baby got really close. They were just a few feet from us and continued, in a casual manner, across the trail and up into the tree brush.”
Stephanie posted about her sightings but had questions for her community. “Do you see them out and about?” she asked. “Are there tons of them but because they are mostly nocturnal, sightings are rare? Who knows things? Armadillo things?”
Let’s turn to Urban Wildlife Biologist Sam Kieschnick for some answers. “Armadillo talk! I love armadillos — they’re such cool animals,” he smiles. “I’d argue that they’re one of our most recognizable and charismatic animals here in Texas. How many times have you seen a cartoon of an armadillo with a cowboy hat to represent Texas?”
He continues, “They are relatively common throughout the state of Texas — wherever you have ‘diggable soil,’ you’ll likely find armadillos or at least evidence of armadillos.”
Sam pointed me to iNaturalist, a site where any and all can report their observations in nature. Filtering by type of animal and by location, you’ll find a good number of armadillo sightings in East Dallas, most concentrated around White Rock Lake and other bodies of water. Zoom in to see that these critters have been spotted at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, the Bath House Cultural Center, Flagpole Hill, Lakewood, Lakewood Hills, Hollywood/Santa Monica, Forest Hills, Casa Linda, Lochwood, and near Ferguson Road, just to name a few locations.
Considering our notoriously clay-like soil here, it follows that these guys more commonly make their homes near the softer soil found on banks of water.
Highly recognizable by their protective shell made of tough, bony plate covered by leathery skin, the species found most often in these parts is the nine-banded armadillo. Contrary to popular belief, not all species of armadillos can roll into a ball when threatened, and any of these critters in this area will likely rely on their surprising speed to scamper away from danger.
This time of year, you might spot an adult armadillo followed by four little ones. Armadillos always give birth to identical quadruplets, which develop from a single egg. Young are born fully formed, with eyes open, and are walking within a few hours. They begin to accompany their mother on foraging expeditions within a few weeks.
Circling back to one of Stephanie’s questions about whether they’re more active at night, here is Sam’s response: “They typically are nocturnal, but it’s not uncommon to see them during the day, digging in leaf litter and in forested areas looking for bugs and grubs and worms to eat. They’re insectivores — so they’ll actively search for these.”
They favor grubs but will happily feast on beetles, ants, termites, larvae and other invertebrates, many of which are potentially harmful. Thank your local armadillo for providing natural pest control.
It’s true that holes dug on your property aren’t always a welcome sight. “Unfortunately, sometimes they’ll be hunting for grubs in our yards and lawns. It can be frustrating, no doubt,” Sam sympathizes, “but I’d argue that they’re benefitting the soil by aerating it and eating some of the grubs that could also damage the plants.”
The aeration process helps increase oxygen levels around plant roots, promoting healthier growth. Their burrows and holes improve water infiltration during rain, resulting in reduced runoff and erosion. And their digging mixes organic debris such as leaf litter and dead insects into deeper soil layers, providing nutrients to the soil.
It’s notable that more than one comment to Stephanie’s post reassured worried homeowners that armadillos usually don’t linger too long. They feast on grubs at a location, then move on fairly quickly.
How about an armadillo superpower/fun fact? These creatures get creative when it comes to traversing water. If they need to cross a fairly narrow stream, they can enter on one side, walk across the bottom and emerge on the other side. If the water is a bit wider, they will ingest air, inflate themselves and increase their buoyancy, thus transforming themselves into an armadillo floatie.
Like all wildlife, armadillos contribute to our ecosystem’s productivity and stability. Understanding and appreciating the official small mammal of Texas could go a long way toward an attitude of coexistence.
