In the USA, particularly Texas and Florida, we cope with the Nine-Banded Armadillo
The Armadillo is a mammal with an unusual look as its own body parts resemble that of other animals. Its ears seem like that of an aardvark, shell like that of a turtle, feet like that of a lizard, face like a pig's plus a tail that resembles a bigger version of the dinosaurs'. Apart from that, an armadillo has a mean body weight of 5kg, but for the giant armadillo that weighs up to 60kg. The mammal generally has a mean length of 2.5 feet.
The armadillo has a feature bony armor connected by skin that functions as a kind of protection for them. The tail as well is encased in bony plates but the bottom of the body is coated with hairy skin. This bony armor thus covers the head area, the back, sides, tail and parts of the legs.
Armadillos typically have short legs for digging food out from the ground and making burrows, a sticky tongue for choosing foods and about 80 - 100 teeth that they use for crushing their victims. An armadillo has more teeth than any other known mammal and the teeth, which continue growing throughout their life span, aren't covered with enamel.
Diet: Though omnivorous, armadillos are largely insectivores -- they eat termites, spiders, worms, beetles and other invertebrates. And while they're poor-sighted, armadillos have a sharp sense of smell with which they locate their meals; they also enjoy digging the earth for meals with their claws. Once found, the sticky tongue is used to pick the food up and it's ingested.
Behavior: By nature, armadillos are nocturnal creatures since they're more busy late at night and early in the morning. They're also great burrowers, meaning they are extremely adept at digging the earth and making burrows to live in. Some species of armadillo are capable of rolling themselves up while some can't. They exhibit a little type of territoriality, mostly from the females. Each armadillo claims and struggles for its own land, but these lands can sometimes overlap, particularly that of male with female. Learn all you can About Armadillos.
When predated on, they use their claws to fight and they're capable of running fast also. Armadillos can also jump to restricted heights to escape from predators. Most armadillos can roll up themselves as a kind of protection when in danger, and this also seems to protect them quite a few times in danger. The hard shell, although not as hard as that of turtle, is tough enough to save them in certain situations.
Habitat: Normally, the armadillo is native to the Americas and it's notorious for staying near water warm, and even rainy areas. Additionally it is located near grasslands, rainforests and bushland, but isn't adapted to extremely cold or cold conditions because of the large body surface that's not insulated nor shielded by fats. Most species of armadillo can float in water and can survive underwater for a couple of minutes.
The breeding periods of armadillos in various areas differ based on their place. For those in the Northern hemisphere, the breeding season lasts between July and August, while it lasts from November to January for armadillos from the Southern hemisphere. After mating, one egg is fertilized and this fertilized egg afterwards divides into 4 equal embryos.
So four equal armadillos are given birth by the adult female, who also feeds them with milk for 12 weeks. The lifespan of an armadillo is between 8 to 15 years based on a great deal of factors like predation, availability of food, environmental condition etc.
