This old warrior has been around the block a time or two. Just look at the wear and tear on this intrepid Armadillo! His ears are torn and ragged. One of them even appears to be bleeding. The scales on his armor have had the pigment worn away, especially at the joints. And he is sporting a sizable open wound on his left hip.
Rotating around the animals for a look at its backside shows that there is also scaring on its shell and another relatively fresh wound on the opposite hip. This wily Armadillo has spent a little time in the jaws of a predator.
A closer look at the right ear shows a bloody injury there as well.
Fortunately, this little guy made his escape(s) and lived to forage another day. And that’s exactly what he was doing when we came across him on this cold December morning. He was head down and rooting through the detritus with abandon. So preoccupied was he that he never noticed our approach or our picture taking.
In fact, just by luck his Armadillo activities eventually brought him right to my feet, at which point I gave him a little encouragement to pursue a different direction. A sharp whistle got his attention and sent him scurrying in the opposite direction.
