{"id":276166,"date":"2025-11-07T00:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/276166\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T00:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:04:15","slug":"armadillos-and-more-in-indiana-inkfreenews-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/276166\/","title":{"rendered":"Armadillos and More in Indiana \u2013 InkFreeNews.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo taken in June 2021 \u2013 Indiana\u2019s 50th confirmed nine-banded armadillo, photographed while foraging in Daviess County. Photo from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

By John Woodmansee
Ag & Natural Resources Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Whitley County<\/p>\n

SOUTH WHITLEY \u2013 An armadillo is an unusual-looking mammal, and one that most people would probably associate with southern states like Texas and Louisiana. A Purdue expert recently reported that we have armadillos in Indiana!<\/p>\n

Brian McGowan, Purdue wildlife specialist, said that the nine-banded armadillo, a 10- to 15-pound mammal, has become an increasingly common sight in the Hoosier state, and it has been here for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nine-banded armadillo was first discovered living in Indiana around 2003,\u201d he said. \u201cSince then they have been found throughout most of the state, even into the far northeast corner of Steuben County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although statewide residence is likely, there have been no confirmed sightings in Whitley County to date.<\/p>\n

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John Woodmansee<\/p>\n

McGowan said that armadillos are known to establish themselves in woodland areas in search of ground insects, which are abundant in decaying wood. They are primarily nocturnal animals, and they make multiple burrows in the ground.<\/p>\n

While armadillos are not known to be dangerous, there is a risk of humans or animals stepping into their open burrows. MacGowan compares this to similar risks posed by groundhog and ground squirrel burrows.<\/p>\n

According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the nine-banded armadillo is the only armadillo species found in the United States. The animal is a powerful digger, and it uses its burrows to seek shelter from weather and predators.<\/p>\n

Indiana DNR appeals to Indiana residents to report armadillos and other animals on its website<\/a>. Their watchlist includes: badger, black bear, bobcat, Franklin\u2019s ground squirrel, gray fox, gray wolf, jumping mouse, mountain lion, nine-banded armadillo, pygmy shrew, smoky shrew, southern flying squirrel, star-nosed mole, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, weasel species, and western harvest mouse. Learn about each mammal and its current status in Indiana on the DNR website above.<\/p>\n

As I understand, some of these animals are currently in Indiana, some are occasionally seen in Indiana, and some were in Indiana at one time but are now absent.<\/p>\n

Additionally, perhaps you\u2019ve seen sick or dead wildlife that concerns you. Indiana DNR\u2019s Sick or Dead Wildlife Reporting System collects information about wildlife that appear sick or appear to have died without an apparent cause. They ask that you do not report animals that have died of an apparent cause, such as predation, roadkill, or window collisions. Find this reporting portal here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find McGowan\u2019s complete information in an article authored by Ericka Bethel here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo taken in June 2021 \u2013 Indiana\u2019s 50th confirmed nine-banded armadillo, photographed while foraging in Daviess County. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-276166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}