Cold-weather casualty

These are the remains of an armadillo I found in the woods last Sunday. It was half-covered with leaves. There are 10 or more different kinds of armadillos spread across South and Central America. The only one found in the United States is called the nine-banded armadillo.

Once not found in Southeast Missouri, the nine-banded armadillo has been extending its range north over the last two decades or so. They can now be sometimes seen as far north as St Louis, usually along highways after being hit by a car.

Armadillos have a low body temperature and do well in places such as Texas and New Mexico where there are fewer cold days than in Missouri. Armadillos eat grubs, ants, snails, grasshoppers, beetles and worms. They have a bony exterior armor covered by dark scales. Many of the scales have weathered off the one I've photographed here.