Armadillos???

There are tons of 'dillos in GA. 

marty_ga

Why might I have had one in my yard? 

Armadillo — coming soon to a place near you?
http://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/expansion.html

The nine-banded armadillo has expanded its range northward into the United States over the last 150 years. Prior to about 1850, the nine-banded armadillo was not found north of the Rio Grande river. The sudden and extremely rapid armadillo colonization of the southern United States has puzzled quite a few biologists. The degree of range expansion per year is nearly ten times faster than the average rate expected for a mammal. Sightings of the animals farther north are reported every year, prompting many people to wonder just how far north the armadillo will go.  ...

The map below [see the site above] illustrates the established range of the nine-banded armadillo (as of 1995) in dark green, with the estimated potential future range in light green. Current data suggests that this prediction has been fairly accurate.

Please note that armadillos can carry leprosy.  This is not a myth or an urban legend.

Most of the infected animals are in Texas or Louisiana, but I wouldn't take any chances.  Don't touch!!  Well cooked armadillo meat is probably OK, even if the animal was infected, but I personally don't care to find out.

http://svm369.vetmed.lsu.edu/images/truman/Human%20and%20Armadillo%20Leprosy.pdf

Earlier investigators detected leprosy in armadillos by examining histopathological sections of their ear tissues for acid fast bacilli in dermal nerves. Using this test, between 2-5% of the animals in Texas and Louisiana appear to be infected; but little evidence for armadillo leprosy is found elsewhere. Outside the U.S., only 2 leprosy infected amadillos have been found in Argentina and 1 in Mexico. 

Wow, I didn't know they carried that! Geez, we have armadillos coming out of our ears here.

 I didn't know they carried that either...good to know.

It turns out that I do remember being awoken that night by my dogs barking up a storm, but when I looked out the window, I saw my neighbor outside with what I thought was her small dog at 3 am.  Odd, but I knew my dogs would shut up when she went back in, so I didn't fuss at them.  It had to be a day or so after my DH passed, because my daughter was here and remembers it also. 

There have been no more incidents, so maybe the armadillo moved on.  Our house is built on a crawl space, so after reading about armadillos and the burrows they make and the damage they do, I think it is gone...I hope.  We have lived here 25 yrs, and I have never seen nor heard of them being any sort of problem in this area at all.   And no...I'm not crawling around the crawl space...I'm more afraid of rattlesnakes around here...shiver.  Ummm, maybe I could make my son do it....but I kinda like him too much!  And the termite inspector doesn't come until January...

When I was young, opossums used to come in my parent's yard and the neighbors yards to get cat food and dog food.  I think they also sometimes are looking for water.  Maybe an armadillo would be looking for the same things?  I would just stay away from them and make sure you have the dogs in the house. 

marlania

Wow, I didn't know they carried that! Geez, we have armadillos coming out of our ears here. 

I wouldn't worry about it too much - just don't touch them with your bare hands.  Humans and armadillos are the only creatures that can catch leprosy, so your pets are safe.

Actually armadillos can be nice to have around if you can control the tunneling and keep them out of gardens.

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/a_closer_look_at_wildlife/armadillos.html

The armadillo's diet consists mostly of insects and other invertebrates. Small animals, baby birds, eggs, and carrion may occasionally be eaten as well. Armadillos are almost constantly active when foraging—poking and probing into crevices and under litter for food. They continuously grunt while foraging and appear not to be particularly attentive to their surroundings. In fact, if you hold still it may be possible to have a foraging armadillo actually bump into you. ...

In some cases, armadillos may even be providing a valuable service by feeding on destructive insects. Armadillos are one of the few animals who will take on fire ants and can be highly beneficial when these insects are present.

Some interesting facts about armadillos:

The nine-banded is the only armadillo who can swim, though, and—it's not a myth—these armadillos may even hold their breath and walk along the bottom when crossing streams.

Usually nocturnal, armadillos dig numerous emergency and temporary burrows. These may range in depth from 20 inches to 20 feet. More permanent abodes may include a network of tunnels with three to four entrances.

The normal litter size is four, all of the same sex and all genetically identical because the offspring are derived from a single egg.

Armadillos are so cute ;)  Don't worry about the leporsy, it's extremely easy to treat even if lightning strikes and you get it from an armadillo lol.

ottoluv

Armadillos are so cute ;)  Don't worry about the leporsy, it's extremely easy to treat even if lightning strikes and you get it from an armadillo lol. 

ottoluv, is the following out-of-date?    If not, we have different definitions for "extremely easy to treat". 

http://www.cha.state.md.us/edcp/factsheets/leprosy.html

Treatment for leprosy involves taking several antibiotics for at least 6 months and up to several years. In most cases, a person will lose the ability to infect others within days to months of starting treatment.

It takes weeks for my digestive tract to recover (with probiotics) from a 5-day dose of Cipro.     I can't imagine what 6 months of antibiotics would do.