ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
117 
Contributions Nos. 119. IS", 1,11 
THE GIANT ARMADILLO* 
By William Beebe 
I WRITE of one of the most dangerous ani¬ 
mals of Guiana, dangerous, that is, if cor¬ 
nered or wounded—the Giant Armadillo. 
This is an Edentate and a feeder on wdiite ants, 
grubs and carrion, yet, under the conditions I 
have mentioned, fully as much to be dreaded as 
any jaguar or puma. It is of tremendous in¬ 
terest as a true relic of past glory of the arma¬ 
dillo race, when the Glyptodons with their huge 
arched shells reached a length of seven feet . 1 
For five years I have tried in vain to capture 
one of these rare animals, and only in mid- 
July of the present year was one secured a short 
distance up river from the station. 
By working alone and with Indians, I have 
seen four Giant Armadillos. The first was an 
unexpected meeting, at night, as I was going 
along a trail, when one of the animals suddenly 
rushed across my path, with deep grunts and a 
wild clawing of dried leaves. I was almost up¬ 
set, and five seconds saw the beginning and end 
of that adventure. 
Whenever I have suggested to my Indian 
hunters the capture of a living Mowoorimah, 
they have smiled as at a good joke. One with 
a keen sense of humor answered, “Me catch 
two tiger live praps, but no Mowoorimah.” 
My second encounter gave me a more con¬ 
crete belief in the truth of this remark, and 
enormously increased my respect for this living, 
high-powered, armored, animal tank. I had 
found a hole which, from its size, I was sure 
must have been made by a Giant Armadillo, 
and this was proved by the imprints of great 
claws at the entrance. I got my hunter and 
asked him how we could dig out the inmate. He 
got down and sniffed, announced that the animal 
was at home, and said he would go and plan a 
way. He did not return. I sat down and tried 
‘Tropical Research Station Contribution Number 119. 
‘American Natural History --Hornnday —p. 156. 
to work it out. I knew the creature could dig 
as fast as we could, and that nothing except a 
solid timbered cage would hold it. It was al¬ 
most dusk, and I was about to rise and go 
back to camp, when I heard a scuffling and a 
tail appeared in the hole, a tail which for sheer 
size might well have been that of a Glyptodon. 
I was wholly unprepared for this apparition, 
for I knew that usually these creatures come out 
only on the darkest of moonless nights. The 
tail came above the level of the ground, then the 
hind legs of the giant appeared, and the edge 
of the shell. Finally a mass of earth and bits 
of rock began to fly through the air, debris which 
the animal was dragging up. 
At such a time a human being does not rea¬ 
son. I wanted a live Giant Armadillo for the 
Zoological Park more than anything in the 
world, and here it was. So I reached out and 
took it, or tried to. I have never tried to cling 
to the tail of a full-grown crocodile, nor at¬ 
tempted to stay with my hands the revolutions 
of a wind-mill. Once, however, Dr. Hornaday 
and I were dragged by a lassoed bear up a steep 
bank as by a steel winch. I was reminded of 
that occasion. What I expected the beast to 
do did not occur to me, and my only salvation 
was his own surprise. Instead of clawing and 
digging down out of sight, as any small arma¬ 
dillo would have done, this creature came out 
only the faster, and turning with the agility of 
a cat, made a side swipe at me and left at full 
speed. His reach was short, lienee I am alive 
and able to write, but the effect was that of 
the swing of a scythe close to my eyes. When 
I realized that it was over, I measured the hole 
and found it a newly dug one, only eight feet 
deep, with a sharp bend. This explained why 
the armadillo sought escape in flight. On one 
of the other occasions I wounded one but could 
not track it. 
