Ben helped me write this: Ben's family has an armadillo in their yard and they are angry. The family brought in a armadillo trapper. Mommy let Ben come home from school and watch the armadillo trapper. Ben checks the traps every morning and every night. Last night there was a squirrel in one of the traps so Ben and Gwen let it out. We studied the armadillo and learned these fun facts: Nine banded armadillos live in Florida, three banded armadillos live in Brazil. Three banded armadillos are the only ones that can roll themselves into a ball. Armadillos like to swim, and they are very good at it. They have a strong dog paddle, and can even go quite a distance underwater, walking along the bottom of streams and ponds. They can hold their breath for four to six minutes at a time. When they need to cross larger bodies of water, they swim across. Because their heavy shell makes it hard for them to float, they gulp air into their intestines to make them more buoyant. Armadillos get run over by cars so often that they have earned the nickname of "Texas Speed bumps." Three reasons. First, armadillos will eat roadkill. Animals that eat roadkill often become roadkill themselves, because they are on the road more often than other animals are. Second, armadillos are nocturnal. It is hard to see animals by the side of the road at night, so it is harder for motorists to avoid hitting them. Third, armadillos jump up in the air when they feel threatened. This often works to startle a predator, but against an automobile it doesn’t work; they just end up jumping right into the front or underside of the car, with disastrous results.
I thought this was fun to investigate with Ben and is an amazing example of God's handiwork.
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