As the days are getting shorter, I now come home when the last bits of sun are leaving the sky. The short walk from my car to my apartment is through a green patch that is home to a nine-banded armadillo. I first met the armadillo last year when I heard some rustling in a bush. Being from the pacific northwest I had never seen the strange animal that came out of the bushes. It looked like a strange scaly nutria, however I knew from pictures of southwest wildlife that it was in fact an armadillo.
Nine-banded armadillo is the only species found in the United States. The animal can have anywhere from 7-11 scaly bands that give it an armor looking coat. From my research they seem to eat almost anything from insects to plants allowing them to live in a wide range of areas, including the green space at my apartment complex. Amazingly they can hold their breath for approximately six minutes and will either swim or walk across the bottom of rivers. An armadillo usually gives birth to identical quadruplets, but since the armor is not formed until later in life they are prone to predation. Their population is increasing since humans have killed off most of their predators including pumas, black bears, and alligators. Armadillos were a source of food for humans, especially during the great depression, due to their abundance. I have been unable to get a picture of the armadillo living near my apartment but here is my iNaturalist post.
References:
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Nine-Banded-Armadillo.aspx