http://armadillo-online.org/expansion.html
http://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/dasypus.html
Posted on 07/21/2015 2:07:23 PM PDT by Red Badger
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
Leprosy cases in Florida are higher than normal and experts are blaming armadillos. Nine cases have been reported across Florida so far this year.
On average, the state only sees 10 cases for the entire year. Action News spoke to a trapper who said he takes extra precautions because of this danger.
Armadillos are very common all over Florida, and most of them live in the woods. But others could live near your home, and we learned that puts you and your family at risk.
“We catch more armadillos than we do any other species,” said wildlife trapper Kyle Waltz.
Waltz is well aware of the risks that armadillos can carry.
“Especially if they're trying to get out of a cage they can spit on you,” Waltz said.
According to the CDC, armadillos are the only animal to carry leprosy, an age-old bacterial disease that affects the skin and nerves. “It is a devastating illness if you do get it,” said Dr. Sunil Joshi, president of the Duval County Medical Society.
Joshi said leprosy can be easily treated if diagnosed. But while considered rare in the U.S., the number of leprosy cases in Florida is growing.
According to the Department of Health, an average of 10 Floridians are diagnosed every year. But this year, already 9 patients have been identified, the latest was diagnosed in Flagler County three weeks ago.
“What's happening in Florida is not necessarily concerning but what's interesting is those cases were all with people who were in direct contact with armadillos,” Joshi said.
Action News’ Amanda Warford personally learned that avoiding armadillos isn't easy. Last month, she found six living under her Southside home.
She called a trapper and these experts say that was the right move to avoid any risk.
“It is still very, very unlikely to cause problems but be aware of armadillos and stay away from them,” Joshi said.
Armadillos are usually nocturnal, but right now is breeding season in Florida, so you may see babies out during the day. Experts say, do not get close to them, because they also can carry the disease.
There used to be a leper colony and research hospital in Carville LA. The town had some connection to Clinton’s guy, James Carville.
The research facility was offering $40 each for live armadillos. My friend Bubba and his brother decided they’d drive over to Texas and trap a truckload of ‘dillos and get rich. So they filled a U-haul with traps, drove over and set them in E Texas. After about a week they’d only bagged about 30 but they were bored and headed back with their catch, figuring they’d made $1200, good money for a week’s camp out. On the way back, they stopped and partied at a few bars. It was a really hot summer, they needed a cold brew. Got a little drunk, had to sleep it off. Finally they returned to Carville, threw open the trailer doors to the most goshawful stench of dead armadillos you can imagine.
>>Armadillos can jump up to 4 feet in the air...........................
I saw a nature video once of a bobcat going after an armadillo. It jumped right as the bobcat was pouncing, so it pounced on thin air, really stupefied as to what had just happened. Armadillo takes advantage of the moment of confusion by the bobcat, and scurries into his burrow.
But thousands of years of evolution have played a cruel trick on the armadillo. This “jump when a predator attacks” defensive instinct, that works great when your attacker is something like a bobcat, isn’t so great when your attacker is a Ford, a Chevy, or a Toyota.
Hence all the armadillo carcasses by the side of the road.
See my previous.
That would make a great movie.............................
I chased an armadillo when I was was a kid. I caught it by its tail just as it ran into its hole. I hung on and eventually got him out of his hole. I looked at him a few minutes before I let him go.
That was before I knew they carried leprosy, I would never touch one now.
http://armadillo-online.org/expansion.html
http://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/dasypus.html
Back in the late 70’s when the Chevy Van song created a craze for vans across the nation, a friend of mine had one he was customizing. He bought one of those fiberglass spoiler/air dams that go across the front of the van under the bumper to nearly touch the road. Was supposed to make it handle better and get better gas mileage by creating a vacuum under the vehicle and providing less wind resistance. Whether they did or not I don’t know. But he paid a huge amount of money for this thing, like $100 or so, which was a goodly sum of money back then.
He and his wife took a road trip to Tampa from Ft. Lauderdale one weekend and when he came back there was a ‘ARMADILLO SHAPED HOLE’ in the middle of his new spoiler........................
LOLOLOL!
Cute....................but creepy......: (
I ate some fried armadillo when I was a teenager. Unless the incubation period is decades long I guess a bullet was dodged.
“Armadillos can jump up to 4 feet in the air...........................”
Especially when spotlighted at night and hit with a shotgun blast.
I ate it stewed in 1977, so I guess I’m safe as well.........................
I hit one in the head with a crescent wrench while it was rooting around my mom’s yard one time in the late 70’s. It scared the crap outta me when it jumped!.......................
I think that would be taking recycling a bit far, don’t you?
Why did you eat armadillo, were you really hungry or just winning a bet?
“I’ll bet Ya $5 Ya won’t eat a dillo”
You win. ;)
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