ARMADILLO 



takes them, they curl up in an ironclad ball that is not easily 

 uncurled. In autumn, during the deer hunting months, 

 when the young of the year are full grown, they are especially 

 numerous and particularly obnoxious to the still hunters, who 

 repeatedly mistake their rustling in the leaves for the noise of 

 feet of bigger game. Where a dozen or twenty armadillos 

 are met in a day's hunting, as sometimes happens, and possibly 

 no deer are seen, the nervous strain and disappointment on the 

 part of the hunter sometimes result in serious consequences to 

 the innocent armadillo. 



"The excrement of the armadillos found scattered along the 

 trails in the form of clay marbles and with the texture of baked 

 mud gives some clue to the food habits of the animals. Care- 

 ful examination shows only the remains of insects, mainly ants 

 and a few small beetles, embedded in a heavy matrix of earthy 

 matter." 



The young, four to eight in number, are bom from February 

 to April, and at first have soft flexible skins which show the 

 pattern of the armor that will come with time. As the young 

 mature the armor hardens until finally it reaches the bony 

 stage. 



553 



