Meet one of North Carolina’s newest residents: the nine-banded armadillo

The following time you’re out strolling alongside a greenway or climbing within the mountains be looking out for one among North Carolina’s latest residents: the insect-eating nine-banded armadillo.

Native to South America, it has distinctive armor-like pores and skin, a pig-like snout, and lengthy tail, and was first documented in Texas within the mid-1800s. Since then, it’s step by step expanded north and east, and now calls many of the Southern US dwelling.

The primary documented sighting of an armadillo in North Carolina didn’t happen till 2007. They’ve now been noticed in about 25 counties, together with Mecklenburg and virtually all surrounding counties.

Colleen Olfenbuttel is a biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Assets Fee and creator of a examine on armadillos within the state. She says they’re excellent at adapting to new environments.

“We’re simply seeing fewer days of below-freezing circumstances in North Carolina,” Olfenbuttel stated. “It was possibly we’d expertise, particularly within the mountains, weeks of below-freezing temperatures which beforehand would function a barrier for armadillos. They’re very prone to chilly climate.”

Olfenbuttel stated it’s too quickly to say simply what impression they’re having on North Carolina’s ecosystem. She says they’re nicknamed “ecosystem engineers” as a result of their in depth burrowing creates hotspots of biodiversity for different species. However there’s additionally a foul facet to that digging.

“So we’re seeing a rise in property injury,” she stated. “Injury to golf programs, cemeteries, and folks’s lawns. And it’s not only a matter of ‘Oh, there’s a gap in my yard or a few holes.’ The injury could be fairly in depth.”

Armadillos don’t pose a risk to folks. Nonetheless, they’ll carry leprosy, although it’s unusual. In addition they can’t see or hear very effectively, which might make it simple for folks to get near them. However boy are they quick as soon as they sense a risk, Olfenbuttel stated.

“I’m prepared to confess that one time after I noticed an armadillo I made a decision to present chase to see if I may sustain with [it],” she stated. “And oh it out ran me no drawback. It was so quick navigating via the setting.”

For those who see one, do attempt to snap a photograph or video and ship it to the North Carolina Wildlife Assets Fee. That helps the company monitor the place the armadillos are migrating.