SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



585 



species still exist there. These animals are 

 peculiar to America and have their center of 

 abundance in the southern continent. 



The nine-banded species ranges over an 

 enormous territory and is subdivided into a 

 number of geographic races, living from south- 

 ern Texas through Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica to Argentina. In Mexico its vertical dis- 

 tribution extends from sea-level up to an alti- 

 tude of about 10,000 feet on the mountains of 

 the interior. Like the hog-nosed skunk, it no 

 doubt originated as a member of the South 

 American fauna and has spread northward to 

 its present limits. It is one of the larger of 

 the living representatives of this curious group 

 of animals and reaches a weight of from twelve 

 to fifteen pounds. 



As might be surmised from its appearance, 

 the armadillo is a stupid animal, living a mo- 

 notonous life of restricted activities. Its sight 

 and hearing are poor, and the armored skin 

 gives it a stii¥-legged gait and immobile body. 

 From these characteristics, combined with the 

 small head hung low on a short neck, it has in 

 life an odd resemblance in both form and 

 motion to a small pig; it jogs along in its trails 

 or from one feeding place to another with the 

 same little stiff trotting gait and self-centered 

 air. If alarmed it will break into a clumsy 

 gallop, but moves so slowly that it may be 

 overtaken by a man on foot. So poor is its 

 eyesight that a person may approach openly 

 within about thirty yards before being noticed. 



When alarmed the armadillo immediately runs 

 to the shelter of its burrow, but may easily be 

 caught in one's hands, especially if intercepted 

 on the way to its den. When caught it will 

 struggle to escape, and while it may coil up 

 in a ball in the presence of a dog or other 

 mammal foe, I never saw one try to protect 

 itself in this way. While presumably serving 

 for protective purposes, the armor is flexible 

 on the sides of the body, and I have found the 

 remains of many armadillos where they had 

 been killed and eaten by coyotes or other preda- 

 tory beasts. The armor would no doubt be suf- 

 ficient protection to enable them to escape to 

 cover from the attack of birds of prey. They 

 are mainly nocturnal animals, but are fre- 

 quently seen abroad by day and in some places 

 appear to be out equally by day or night. 



This armadillo lives by preference amid the 

 cover afforded by forests, brushy jungle, tall 

 grass, or other vegetation. In the midst of 

 such shelter it usually digs its own burrow a 

 few yards deep in a bank or hill slope, beneath 

 a stump, under the roots of a tree, or a rock, 

 or even on level ground. It will also occupy 

 small caves in limestone rock. At times it 

 shows a piglike fondness for a mud bath, and 

 the prints of its armor may be found where it 

 has wallowed in miry spots. 



Well-beaten and conspicuous trails lead from 

 the burrows often for half a mile or more, fre- 

 quently branching through the thickets in vari- 

 ous directions. Armadillo burrows sometimes 

 accommodate strange neighbors, as was shown 

 by one in Texas which was dug out, and in 



addition to containing the owner in his den at 

 the end, was found to be occupied by a four- 

 foot rattlesnake and a half-grown cottontail 

 rabbit, each in a side chamber of its own. 



The food of the armadillo consists almost 

 entirely of many species of insects, among 

 which ants appear to predominate. When 

 searching for food the animals become so in- 

 tent that they may be cautiously approached 

 and closely observed or captured by hand. They 

 root about among fallen leaves and other loose 

 vegetation and soft earth, now and then digging 

 up some hidden grub or beetle. At night they 

 visit newly plowed fields in their haunts, root- 

 ing in the mellow earth. They are accused of 

 digging up plants in gardens during their noc- 

 turnal wanderings, and in Texas have been 

 charged with robbing hens' nests of eggs, and 

 of reducing the supply of wild turkeys and 

 quail by breaking up the nests, all of which 

 needs confirmation. Their method of feeding 

 appears to vary considerably, as they have been 

 seen rising on their hind legs to secure small 

 caterpillars infesting large weeds. 



The insect food eaten by the nine-banded 

 armadillo in Texas, as known from examina- 

 tion of stomach contents, covers a wide range 

 of insect and other small life, including many 

 species of grasshoppers, crickets, roaches, cater- 

 pillars, beetles, ants, spiders, centipedes, and 

 earthworms. As the list includes also wire- 

 worms and other noxious species, these inoffen- 

 sive animals deserve thorough protection as a 

 most useful aid to the farmer. 



Some time from February to April each year, 

 litters of from four to eight young are born. 

 They have their eyes open at birth, and the 

 armor is soft and flexible like fine leather. The 

 hardening of the skin into a bony armor is 

 progressive, continuing until after the animal 

 fully completes its growth. As soon as the 

 young are able to travel they trot along with 

 the old one during her foraging trips. 



Early one afternoon, when riding along a 

 trail in the heavy forest of southern Oaxaca, 

 accompanied by an Indian boy and a pack of 

 dogs, I suddenly came upon an old armadillo 

 and eight young about two-thirds grown. 

 They had heard our approach and stood mo- 

 tionless in a compact little group half hidden 

 in the grass. I had barely time to stop my 

 horse when the dogs spied them and made a 

 rush. The armadillos darted into the under- 

 growth in every direction like a litter of pigs, 

 and with the exception of two caught by the 

 dogs gained safe refuge in their burrow. This 

 we found dug in the level ground about fifty 

 yards from where we encountered them. 



The Maya Indians of the Peninsula of Yuca- 

 tan have a legend that the black-headed vul- 

 ture (Catharista at rata) in old age changes 

 into an armadillo. The tale runs, that when 

 a vulture becomes very, very old it notifies its 

 companions that the time has come and alights 

 before a hole in the ground that resembles the 

 den of an armadillo. The other vultures bring 

 food and the old one remains there for a long- 

 time. Its wings disappear, the feathers are 



