SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- While you might expect to see an armadillo in an area like Texas, soon enough you could be seeing them here.
The nine-banded armadillo has been expanding its habitat into Indiana since 2003 and is starting to creep closer to Michiana.
I spoke to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ state mammologist, Brad Westrich, about why the armadillos are headed here.
“We’ve had suitable habitat here for them, they really prefer those deciduous forests, where all the leaves fall down. It creates this fantastic mat of decaying vegetation that insects and invertebrates really love to eat, and that is good food for armadillos. But what we hadn’t had was the climate that could support them.”
While our summer temperatures are well suited for an armadillo, it’s our cold winters that keep them south.
However, since 2003, when the first armadillo was spotted in the Hoosier state, South Bend has seen 14 meteorological winters with average temperatures at or above average.
Four of those winters, including 2023-2024, saw average temperatures above 32 degrees. The milder conditions caused Amanda Brunson-Cruz to believe the climate is one of the foremost reasons armadillos continue to make their way northward.
"Our winters are not as cold; we have fewer freezing days. And they can withstand some freezing. It's just if it is for extended periods, if it freezes down into their burrow, they’re not going to survive that. But with less freezing nights they are being able to move northward so that’s a big factor we believe.”
There are some armadillos already in Michiana, though they are three-banded armadillos at Potawatomi Zoo.
Nine-banded armadillos are larger, cannot roll into a full ball, and have been spotted in Elkhart County.
Steuben and Porter Counties outside of Michiana are the northernmost counties in Indiana that have had sightings, though there have been no confirmed sightings of armadillos in Michigan.
Will armadillos get to Michigan? Westrich says it’s unlikely.
“Eventually armadillos are going to hit that northern boundary that they can’t get past, it’s going to be cold enough every winter that it’ll cause mortality. They won’t be able to go past that with much success. But where that line is now? I don’t think anyone can say.”
With more mild winters, the livable habitat that nine-banded armadillos can roam is expanding. However, does their presence in Indiana make them an invasive species?
From what Westrich has observed about the nine-banded armadillos making their way into Indiana, they will likely not disrupt the natural food chain in our ecosystems.
“I’m actually not considering this an invasive species, typically invasive species are not native to the area or the region, and it moves in, and it causes lots of problems, it has no natural predators, things like that. But these armadillos are kind of from our region they’ve been spreading into and across North America and the US for a couple hundred years now it’s just that they’re finally making it here and they’re finally established in Indiana so I’m calling them a naturalized species”
However, they could be a nuisance to humans with their burrowing, as Brunson-Cruz explains, “Other than the burrowing, no. So, they’re going to go underground, if they’re burrowing under you know your shed, your garage, that might end up causing some problems. If they are becoming a nuisance, currently in Indiana you are able to have them removed from your property, otherwise they are protected from harassment from interacting with people.”
If you do notice an armadillo on your property, or while you’re driving, be sure to report it to the DNR online.