Watch Out, Those Armadillos Are Quick On The Draw

An armadillo ‘fought back’ when an East Texas man shot at the animal three times.
(Photo courtesy Lauren Mitchell, Flickr)

An East Texas man got the shock of his life when he shot at an armadillo in his yard early Thursday morning, according to Cass County sheriff Larry Rowe. Little did the shooter know that he had apparently encountered the superman of the animal world.

It was around 3 a.m. when the unidentified man stepped outside his Marietta home and took aim. Reuters reported that the man’s wife was in the house at the time of the incident. “He went outside and took his .38 revolver and shot three times at the armadillo,” Rowe said.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, the nine-banded armadillo became the official state mascot in 1981 by executive decree. So I can only guess why the man wanted to kill the little critter, because they’re not dangerous to humans. In fact, their primarily source of food is insects.

Having grown up in the South, I do know they are nature’s little armored tanks. Even so, the bands on an armadillo are tough like fingernails, according to the folks at the San Diego Zoo, and are not typically impenetrable. The shell itself is flexible, “with softer skin that expands and contracts between the bands.” So this makes what happened next rather extraordinary.

When the man shot at the armadillo, its shell deflected at least one of the bullets which then struck the man in the jaw, sending him to the hospital where his jaw was wired shut, according to Rowe. As for Superarmadillo? The sheriff said the animal could not be found.