Are Armadillos in Missouri Causing Turkey Declines?

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Are Armadillos in Missouri Causing Turkey Declines?


Nine-banded armadillos are coming to a Midwestern woodlot and pasture close to you—or maybe they have already got. As local weather change has created a development of milder winters, the leathery little relations of anteaters and sloths have prolonged their house vary northward from Texas into the decrease Midwest. Ground zero for the armadillo growth appears to be Missouri. But they’re additionally exhibiting up in southern Illinois, Indiana, and even Iowa.

“Armadillos have absolutely shown up on the scene within the last 10 years,” says Rick Dahl, the chairman of the National Deer Association who hunts and manages wildlife habitat in Central Missouri. “I would say they’re pretty common at this point.”

“You think you’re looking at turkey scratchings but it’s really an armadillo because it’s a continuous line,” Dahl explains. “The ground is clearly disturbed, but it’s not the way a hen will scratch and move to the next spot. Occasionally we’ll get pictures of them on trail camera. I also see evidence of the holes they dig. I’ll be driving the tractor and planting, and I’ve seen armadillos climb out of them. They’re denning right in the ag fields.”

armadillo in florida
Nine-banded armadillos reside as far east as Florida. Alan Schmierer

As they’ve expanded, armadillos have gone by a change within the public eye; from beloved, hardy scrappers in dusty deserts to harmful pests that uproot crops, dig up backyard beds, and carry leprosy. More than just a few turkey hunters have seen that turkey poult manufacturing has tanked in every single place that armadillos have both long-occupied or just lately expanded to. So how involved concerning the armadillo’s growth ought to hunters and wildlife managers actually be? And do turkey fanatics have any purpose to consider armadillos are the offender behind the low turkey poult manufacturing?

Why Are There Armadillos in Missouri?

Armadillos want heat temperatures to outlive. As hotter climates push additional north, the critter’s house vary has expanded from Texas and the coastal South. Now, they reside in Oklahoma, Nebraska, northern Missouri, southern Illinois, and Iowa.

“They don’t have a lot of fat on their bodies. They are a temperature-intolerant animal,” Bowersock says. “If it’s overly cold for a long period of time, they don’t do very well and won’t expand very far. But likely with climatic changes, warmer winters and shorter stints of cold temperatures have allowed armadillos to expand across the country. In the last decade, we’re seeing more armadillos showing up in more places throughout the southern Midwest.”

That “overly cold” climate means temperatures round 32 levels Fahrenheit. When freezing climate strikes, armadillos will burrow underground. But they will’t hibernate, and the bugs they feed on burrow a lot deeper into the bottom than they will. This means they typically starve or freeze to demise if the chilly climate lasts for various days.

Missouri average temperature chart
According to NOAA, common winter temperatures throughout Missouri have elevated by 4 levels since 1970. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

MDC wildlife harm biologist Josh Wisdom recollects a record-setting chilly snap in 2021 that ought to have shrunk the armadillo inhabitants. 

“We really thought that would have killed them out. But I don’t think it touched them at all,” Wisdom tells Outdoor Life, noting that nobody is aware of how they survived. 

Four many years of wildlife sighting knowledge from Missouri bowhunters tells biologists that armadillos have chased hotter winters north. 

“We ask hunters during bowhunting season to record how many hours they spend in their stand and all the animals they see,” Missouri Department of Conservation furbearer biologist Nate Bowersock tells Outdoor Life. “With the data we have, at least going back to the mid-’90s we can show that armadillos were stacked up on the Arkansas border, but over time [they slowly crept] north, to the point that they’re quite well-distributed throughout the state. You can probably see an armadillo in most places in Missouri now.” 

Is the Armadillo Invasion a Bad Thing?

With the growth of the species comes some questions on how a lot harm armadillos truly create. They aren’t fairly on the stage of feral hogs mowing by fences and goring canine with their fangs. But armadillos depart their fair proportion of complications behind.

“They’re omnivores, but they dig up a lot of grubs and other foods,” Bowersock says. “They’ll dig up these huge holes and channels, kind of like a badger. We have a lot of livestock here in Missouri, so ranchers don’t like them because, inevitably, they can create these big holes that cattle can step in and injure themselves. So they’re not always seen [in a positive light].” 

armadillo standing on hind legs
Armadillos lack armor on their bellies and the insides of their legs. Alicia / Adobe Stock

When not placing cattle susceptible to damaged legs, armadillo holes may truly present optimistic advantages in additional wild settings.

“Some science has suggested that all the burrows actually create cover for smaller animals like birds and small mammals in the forest,” Bowersock says. “They could provide some cover for [other] animals [too]. But we haven’t looked into that a whole lot here in Missouri.”

As for the leprosy concern, Wisdom, a lifelong southern Missourian, says he doesn’t lose a lot sleep over it. He suggests anybody dealing with an armadillo ought to take the identical customary precautions they’d with any scavenging wildlife. 

“I know everyone talks about this, but I personally have never heard of anybody getting leprosy or being exposed to it. I would probably put a [dead armadillo] in a bag and throw it away, or put on a leather glove and move it to a spot where it can break down naturally and it’s not going to be an eyesore. I’m sure it’s a possibility but I’ve never heard of it happening.”

All About Armadillos

The concept of an rising inhabitants of armadillos in Missouri may appear a bit far-fetched. When you consider nine-banded armadillos, you in all probability consider Texas as a substitute. The armadillo, Spanish for “little armored one,” is the official Texas small mammal as a result of it’s a “hardy, pioneering creature” with “many remarkable and unique traits that … distinguish a true Texan, such as a deep respect and need for the land, the ability to change and adapt, and a fierce undying love for freedom.” They’re additionally referred to as “Texas speed bumps” for his or her tendency to fulfill an premature demise on roadways. But as a substitute of getting run over, they typically get startled and leap three to 4 toes into the air, hitting an offending automotive’s bumper or undercarriage. 

Nine-banded armadillos are the one armadillo species with a steady inhabitants. Southern three-banded, six-banded, pink fairy armadillos, and large armadillos are all designated as threatened or endangered. Only nine-banded armadillos reside within the United States. Despite their identify, they might have seven to 11 bands of leathery armor throughout their midsections. Contrary to well-liked perception, nine-banded armadillos truly don’t roll up right into a ball the way in which three-banded armadillos do in instances of stress. Bobcats, coyotes, alligators, bears, wolves, and raptors all prey on armadillos. 

southern three-banded armadillos
Southern three-banded armadillos, which reside in South America, can roll right into a ball. Their armor is extra tan than gray. belizar / Adobe Stock

The armor, also referred to as the “osteoderm,” is made from keratin on the skin and “tiles” of bone beneath related by collagen fibers. This armor covers each physique half aside from the insides of their legs and their bellies. Nine-banded armadillos can inflate their intestines and float throughout water or sink themselves and run throughout riverbeds. They favor brushy, forested habitat close to water. Sandy soils make for simpler burrowing and digging for the number of bugs, grubs, and worms that comprise their weight loss plan. 

Despite the issues about leprosy, armadillos have lengthy been thought-about a meat species in South and Central America. In Texas through the Great Depression, they even acquired the nicknames “Hoover hog,” “poor man’s pork,” and “possum on the half shell.” While contracting leprosy after interacting with armadillos could be very uncommon, the illness is curable with early prognosis and therapy. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocate avoiding contact with armadillos if attainable. 

Do Armadillos Eat Turkey Eggs?

turkey eggs in a nest
Quite a lot of scavengers can snatch eggs from a wild turkey nest. Keith / Adobe Stock

Turkey hunters with fears of declining gobbler populations in Missouri have advised that armadillo growth may be a offender of low nest manufacturing. One Facebook submit shares path digicam pictures of an armadillo going into an unprotected turkey nest at night time. While it’s unclear precisely what the armadillo is doing in there, viewers can use their imaginations.

But at a bigger scale, armadillos don’t pose a lot of a menace to turkey nests. Crows, feral hogs, and raccoons are a lot larger issues, in response to MDC turkey biologist Nick Oakley.

“Armadillos are opportunistic egg eaters. I don’t know if they’re going to flush a turkey off a nest. A hen who has put in all the effort to lay those eggs and incubate them is not going to be easily moved off that nest by something like an armadillo,” Oakley tells Outdoor Life. “Other predators and certainly humans can push a turkey off her nest, but I don’t think an armadillo is going to be a problem.” 

Oakley cites analysis from neighboring Texas and Arkansas by which armadillos ate eggs from one turkey nest out of 52 and one turkey nest out of 118, respectively. In a distinct examine of the abdomen contents of 81 Arkansas armadillos, researchers didn’t discover any indicators of chook or egg consumption. 

“Armadillos probably do eat an egg when they come across it. Everything would eat an egg. But it’s likely not one of those primary sources of failed nests or poult predation,” Oakley says.

How to Get Rid of Armadillos

armadillo in water
Armadillos favor brushy or forested areas close to water. Jaynes Gallery/Danita Delimont / Adobe Stock

The MDC doesn’t think about armadillos as an invasive species. They’re as a substitute dubbed “nuisance wildlife,” a phrase reserved for species which might be technically native to a panorama however could cause a number of issues. (Think squirrels, raccoons, and groundhogs.) Lethal removing is authorized for nuisance wildlife, with just a few exceptions. 

“In Missouri, we have a pretty permissive wildlife code,” Wisdom says. “The landowner may protect their property, with a few exceptions of deer, turkeys, and bears. But if you have a raccoon in your chicken coop or your gardens, you don’t have to prove to us that they’re causing damage.”

Bobby Candee, a hunter in Pulaski County, Missouri, says he sees a reside armadillo as soon as each few weeks, although he spots them hit alongside the freeway much more. The critters dig giant holes in his cattle pastures. He’s shot 4 of the critters on his property in recent times. He doesn’t have a lot alternative—it’s them or his livestock.

“There’s holes all over. I’ve never stepped in one, but they’re all over the cow pasture,” he says. “If [one of my cows] stepped in one, it’d probably break her leg.”

If you don’t really feel like capturing an issue armadillo, trapping is an alternative choice. But trapping armadillos takes an oz. extra finesse than different scavengers, Wisdom says.

“Armadillos are not necessarily hard to trap, but they’re a little different than most animals. For a raccoon, you can typically put a can of tuna out and have pretty high success. But you can’t really bait in armadillos very well,” he says, noting that armadillos can’t see or odor very properly.

“More often than not people will try to trap them with a cage trap and 2-by-10 or fencing to funnel the armadillo in. You can try to use overripe fruit, but they just won’t really smell food and go after it the same way a raccoon or a possum would. It’s more about trying to find a travel corridor and funneling them into the trap.”

Final Thoughts on Armadillo Creep in Missouri and the Midwest

armadillo running away
Armadillos will doubtless proceed increasing their vary as local weather change warms extra components of the Midwest, researchers say. Carly / Adobe Stock

And whereas they won’t be of a lot concern to turkeys, turkey hunters, and turkey conservationists, armadillos do make for yet one more scavenging animal including to the combination of signal, scat, occasional egg-eating, and common wildlife coexistence taking place within the turkey woods. 

Read Next: Georgia Considers an Open Season on Raccoons and Opossums to Help Turkeys

So how far will the armadillos go? Bowersock says it relies on how a lot winter temperatures proceed to vary. It’s robust to think about a world by which an armadillo may survive a Minnesota winter. But extra near-term growth within the Midwest is feasible.

“They definitely could keep moving north. But once you get to Michigan or Wisconsin or Minnesota, even with how things have been warming, those states still see a lot of cold. I don’t think armadillos would do well there,” he explains. “But these southern Midwest states, with forest and mixed ag and all the potential hidey holes, we could still see some expansion here in the coming years.”

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