armadillo season

Z

zahnzieh

New member
Man. was down in Missouri for a hunt - never saw so many armadillos dead on the road! I heard they are coming up from Texas - must be a new infestation. Ugliest things - looklike big lizards. I say they ought to have a season open for them - use anything you want - cars, trucks, lawnmowers . . . :D
 
A little tidbit from the university of Austin;

The animals have long been considered a legitimate game animal in Mexico, and the practice of eating armadillos was adopted by residents of South Texas when the animal migrated there. During the Great Depression,qv East Texans stocked their larders with armadillos, which they called "Hoover hogs" because of the animal's supposed pork-like flavor (some say chicken-like) and because they considered President Herbert Hoover responsible for the depression. Currently, barbecued armadillo and armadillo chili are popular foods at various festivals in parts of Texas, Arkansas, and the southeastern United States.

Recent medical research suggests that people who regularly handle armadillos may be increasing their exposure to Hansen's disease (leprosy). Armadillos have very limited natural immunity to leprosy, and they are shipped from Texas and other states to research facilities worldwide for study relating to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
 
Yup, that goes along with what I was told by an acquaintance who has eaten armadillo. Tastes like pork.
 
Coupla years ago on a bike trip thru Missouri and Arkansas, we saw tons of armadillos on the road, both dead and alive. I too never realized they were so far north. While crossing Bull Shoals on the ferry, I had a chance to talk to the local DNR official for the area about them. He told me that altho they are native to the area, they have huge fluctuations in population because of weather. Because their main food supply is grubs , in years when the winter gets cold enough to freeze the ground, they die off in droves, and it may take many years for their numbers to come back, mainly because the breeding animals must migrate north again(and they don't move very fast). After a few years of mild winters, their population explodes because of lack of predation and plentiful food. Blame it on global warming.
 
Fireants have hit them hard around here... I can't recall the exact mechanism, but I think I remember someone saying that young armadillos are vulnerable to the ants.
 
Armadillos are one of the most fearless creatures in our area. I see them quite regularly, laying on their back in the road, waiting to grab a car. :rolleyes:
 
They have made their way to TN in the last couple of years. Fortunately there is no bag limit on the buggers. I wouldn't eat something that ugly though. Looks like an armor-plated 'possum. :)
 
One of the cool things about armadillos (and cattle egrets) is that they are both historic natural migrants into the US and their spread across the US well documented. Some folks claim they are not indigenous, hence not natural. Given that their northward migration has been natural, they are simply recently indigenous. Intentionally imported exotic animals are not considered indigenous.

Armadillos apparently came into the US around 1900 and their distribution in Texas was first documented in 1905 (Vernon Bailey) and there have been several subsequent studies showing their expansion into the US every few years.
 
never even thought about skinning one, let alone eat one. they're a good way to draw the coyotes away from the cows. activshooter-that's basically what they are.
 
I remember in 1978 when my folks packed us up and moved us from SC to Florida. The day we moved in I saw a 'diller in the back yard. Looked slow so I thought I would catch it- yea, right. So I turned one of my Daddy's prized coon dogs on it. He got him cornered, probably thinking it was a possom too at first. You should have seen the look on this dogs face when he relized what he had. :D Somewhere between a "what the hell to OMG" He just sit back and stared at the thing.
 
If you live in 'diller country you'll appreciate this old one.


Why did the chicken cross the road?

To prove to the armadillo it could be done.
 
Me and a buddy, riding around at night with a pair of suppressed .45 HK USP's with laser sights, whacking armadillos---now that's quality redneck entertainment!
 
Those things are blind as a bat...I've had several come w/in feet of me as they root for whatever it is they eat...grubs, roots, etc. I guess that explains their pork-like taste. Can't say I've eaten one though.
 
Armadillos go absolutely bonkers over earthworms.

Forget about keeping one for a while in a cage, unless your sense of smell got shot off in a war. Their poop gives a whole new meaning to stink.
 
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