September 2004

Robo Possum

Do WEMC members need to worry about armored invaders?

Walton EMC members are beginning to see a new inhabitant in their back yards. It looks like an opossum with armor plating.

Armadillos, both unusual and interesting, have a protective armor that covers their head, body and tail. The armor includes nine moveable rings between the shoulder and hip.   This protective covering allows them to blast through briar patches and brambles without a worry.

Where do armadillos prefer to live? Dense shady cover like brush, woodlands, forests and areas next to creeks and rivers are their favored habitat. They also like sandy or loam-type soils because of their softness.

That's one reason biologists are somewhat surprised armadillos are showing up in the Georgia Piedmont where hard, red clay soil is most common.

“Red clay isn't exactly a good place to dig a burrow,” says Ken Riddleberger, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “But the armadillos are not necessarily digging their own burrows in North Georgia. They're living in stump holes and taking advantage of other natural openings.”

If they do dig a burrow for nesting or protection, it's typically four to 24 feet long and up to 20 inches deep.

Riddleberger adds that no natural predators and the availability of food in our part of the state are the main factors causing the animal's northward migration.

Posing no threat to humans (although it's thought that some armadillos in Texas and Louisiana carry the leprosy bacteria), the main concern of an armadillo invasion is damage to yards and ornamental plants.

Almost 90 percent of the armadillo's diet consists of insects and larvae found under the ground. The animal's keen sense of smell can detect food six inches deep. To get to their meal, armadillo dig with their sharp front claws, push their nose in the ground, flick out their sticky tongue to get the insect and immediately begin the cycle again.

The result can be lawns full of shallow holes one to three inches deep and three to five inches wide. Less frequent reports include damage from burrowing under foundations and driveways.

Since more and more electric lines are located underground, is the animal's burrowing behavior a threat to Walton EMC's electric system?

“There's no danger to electric facilities,” says Riddleberger. “Most electric lines are buried well below the depth armadillo dig. I guess if there's a wire a homeowner's put very close to the top of the ground, it could be rooted up.”  But Riddleberger says that instance would be rare.

So how far north will armadillos advance? Their current range is northward to Nebraska and eastward to South Carolina. Biologists think the eventual limiting factor will be average soil moisture and food supply during winter months affected by snow covering the ground.

Current predictions put its eventual range as far north as Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Methods to prevent damage by controlling armadillos are limited. Suggested measures include trapping or hunting. It may help to remove brush or other such cover to discourage their establishment. More exotic methods include erecting fences at a 40-degree angle or applying soil insecticides to remove their food sources.

To learn more about this fascinating creature, check http://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/index.html 

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