Close Encounters of the Clattering Kind
Last night on our way home from LaVon and Mamie's house we "did in" an armored tank--a little one on four legs.
Neither of us saw the armadillo till it was squarely in the center of our lane, and we were set to straddle it neatly. But as everyone knows who has encountered armadillos or heard about their behavior when threatened, this one did not hunker down till the "beast" passed safely overhead. Instead there was a brief noisy clatter as it tangled either with the grill and bumper or the vehicle's undercarriage. We checked out the front of the minivan after we turned onto Partridge Road, and there was no massive hole there or a deceased armadillo, so I suspect it was the undercarriage that took the brunt of the impact.
Armadillos instinctively jump several feet straight up into the air when they sense danger. That might really startle a fox, but it doesn't intimidate a vehicle. The habit usually guarantees a fatality when armadillos encounter a vehicle, but otherwise they generally snuffle along, oblivious to the danger on roadways.
Armadillos are comparatively recent arrivals to this area. This is the first live one I've seen, and I saw the first armadillo roadkill near Hutchinson perhaps 15 years ago. I recall seeing only one dead on the road since then.
They mostly frequent areas with more moisture and warmer winters than we have, so they have moved in from the south. I learned, however, that armadillos have been sighted in several counties in Nebraska, so they've apparently snuffled all the way to the northern part of Kansas and beyond.
Did you know armadillo meat tastes like finely-grained pork? I'll take others' word for this. But if there's not a dead armadillo this morning close to the intersection of US 50 and High Point Road, someone or something else may have been a lot more desperate and curious than I am.
Why did the armadillo cross the road? I'll never know, but it was the last bad decision of his life.
Neither of us saw the armadillo till it was squarely in the center of our lane, and we were set to straddle it neatly. But as everyone knows who has encountered armadillos or heard about their behavior when threatened, this one did not hunker down till the "beast" passed safely overhead. Instead there was a brief noisy clatter as it tangled either with the grill and bumper or the vehicle's undercarriage. We checked out the front of the minivan after we turned onto Partridge Road, and there was no massive hole there or a deceased armadillo, so I suspect it was the undercarriage that took the brunt of the impact.
Armadillos instinctively jump several feet straight up into the air when they sense danger. That might really startle a fox, but it doesn't intimidate a vehicle. The habit usually guarantees a fatality when armadillos encounter a vehicle, but otherwise they generally snuffle along, oblivious to the danger on roadways.
Armadillos are comparatively recent arrivals to this area. This is the first live one I've seen, and I saw the first armadillo roadkill near Hutchinson perhaps 15 years ago. I recall seeing only one dead on the road since then.
They mostly frequent areas with more moisture and warmer winters than we have, so they have moved in from the south. I learned, however, that armadillos have been sighted in several counties in Nebraska, so they've apparently snuffled all the way to the northern part of Kansas and beyond.
Did you know armadillo meat tastes like finely-grained pork? I'll take others' word for this. But if there's not a dead armadillo this morning close to the intersection of US 50 and High Point Road, someone or something else may have been a lot more desperate and curious than I am.
Why did the armadillo cross the road? I'll never know, but it was the last bad decision of his life.
posted by Mrs. I at
4:21 AM
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