NC Wildlife Commission wants to know if you see an armadillo
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking the public to report any sightings of nine-banded armadillos to help Commission biologists determine their range expansion in the Tar Heel state.
If you observe an armadillo in the wild, you are asked to take a picture and upload your photos or email them to armadillo@ncwildlife.org including:
- When it was observed (date and time)
- The location where it was observed (GPS coordinates are best, but a detailed location description is acceptable)
Armadillos lack thick insulation and must dig for most foods. Freezing conditions can cause them to starve or freeze to death, so mild winter temperature conditions are ideal for them. Given that North Carolina is experiencing fewer long stretches of below-freezing weather, armadillos are expanding northward.
“Whether armadillos continue spreading beyond their current range will be largely determined by climate,” according to Colleen Olfenbuttel, the Commission’s black bear and furbearer biologist. “The number of counties with confirmed observations is 28, stretching from Cherokee to Dare counties. This makes it likely the armadillo is expanding its range naturally throughout North Carolina, rather than being helped by human intervention.”
In 2007, the agency received the first confirmed sighting of a nine-banded armadillo in Macon County and in the last 16 years has received more than 898 reports in 70 counties.
