One afternoon Man and I decided to investigate one of the hiking/walking trails that we have not been on here at Gulf State Park. It starts at the beach road and goes north east towards Orange Beach. The entire trail (one way, no loop) is 1.75 miles. We were not really dressed/prepared for a hike, he did not have on his hat and the sun was shining (melanoma survivor, needs his hat) and I really needed another layer of coat or sweater and needed my walking shoes. So, we decided to just do a bit of the trail and see how things worked out.
Well, we only walked about .6 or .7 of a mile total, but, things worked out quite well. We saw our first armadillo, ever, alive, not road kill, up close, less than 6 feet away and not one bit skittish! We have been traveling in the southern states since 2001, less 2 years that we could not leave Michigan for health issues. We have not seen that many dead armadillos either. A couple (stuffed, err preserved, of course) in visitors centers in parks. NEVER alive. NOT ONE! But, now we have!
(Yes, I know, silly things like a living armadillo do excite us.)
We heard brush and grass rustling, and my first thought was, oh, lordy, an alligator (now those do NOT excite me, au contraire, they scare the beejeebees outta me!).
But, no, twas not the feared alligator, but, instead was:
I took a number of photos, but, of course, most of which show little more than the two above, and a lot show less, as this armadillo was very focused on digging around and enjoying it's dinner. I did get a few of part of it's face, sorta. I said to Man, OK, time to finish our walk, I turned to leave and Man started practically screaming, "Get that photo, get that photo". I turned, basically pointed the camera, no time, hurry, was not sure Sony even had time to focus, shoot - -
And, SCORE!!
(Photo was slightly edited, contrast, brightness, cropped).
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14 comments:
That's a touchdown and a two point conversion! Great going, Carol! I've never seen an armadillo up close and personal either. It kind of reminds me of a pig with armour on. It's really cute!
Now I see why you were excited, and anybody else would have been too. Very interesting, and definitely a prized shot.
Absolutely awesome. They are so funny.
That's a great shot, Carol! I'm jealous!
Wow! Sometimes you get the perfect shot!
Thanks for being there so we can see this. It's wonderful. It's not luck, it's perseverance!
Thank you all. It was such a thrill.
You might be interested in a neat article at Wikipedia that friend John sent my way, all kinds of neat facts, including the fact that they have 4 genetically identical babies at the same time. Check out the scientific stuff. Wild!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo
Y'all might think these animals are cute or awesome but this is a critter I have come to dislike almost as much as crows. They tear up my flower beds, dig holes near my inground pool which could cause it to crack and be expensive to repair. They drive my dogs nuts, make holes under all the fences and shed...shall I go on? Crows are still the top of my list because they eat baby birds and squirrels out of the nest. But tear up my flower gardens?? Arrrgghh! Bad, bad, funny looking little armoured beasts!! (Good shot though Carol) :-)
Lisa, here is part of a comment I made on FB on this photo:
"if he was digging in my yard, like raccoons and moles do in my yard in SE Michigan, nope, I would not love him either!"
I totally get it, my thrill was in the capture of the photo.
But, I know you know that! LOL
Priceless! I have never seen an armadillo either and the pictures I have seen are like the first two of yours. But the one of it's face and claws - now that's Nat Geo material!
Lisa, You sound like me when I get to ranting about river otters.
Nice Shot Carol. I don't think we have ever seen a live one
Wow!! Awesome, perfect shot!! My Man and I saw our first live armadillo about eight years ago, fishing at my mom's farm. We were quietly fishing away, and I guess they are near-sighted, as the prehistoric looking little critter came within a few feet of us to get a drink. When hubby got up to get a closer look, it ran away and into a den. We see quite a few dead ones on the highway here in Kansas, though, and hubby called them "possum on a half-shell".... You have a WONDERFUL pic there, and such great memories!
Thank you all once more, I believe this may be the post with the most comments (here and on FB) EVER for Flora and Fauna! LOL
I thank you for your excitement and appreciation of mine!
I've never seen a live one, so i enjoyed these pictures.
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