An Armadillo's Social Behavior

Armadillos are small mammals encased in a protective leathery shell. They live throughout North and South America, but the nine-banded armadillo is the only species found in the United States. These armadillos live in the south and southeast, but they have recently migrated as far north as Illinois due to a lack of natural predators.

  1. Waking Hours

    • Armadillos are solitary, nocturnal animals, and they spend much of their time digging, both for creating tunnels and procuring insects for food. Armadillos are also capable of swimming, and to do so, they inflate their stomach and intestines with air to keep from sinking. However, they can stay under water for six minutes. At the end of a night's wandering, they will retire to their nearest tunnel for the day, which can be anywhere from 20 inches to 12 feet below the surface.

    Territories

    • The territories of male armadillos often overlap one another, but only one male sleeps in each specific territory during the day. Though male armadillos do not usually nest in the same territory as other males, they may do so if the other male is of another reproductive status (i.e., breeding or non-breeding). Adult females, however, often overlap their territories with other male and female armadillos.

    Sibling Identification

    • Nine-banded armadillos give birth to four genetically identical babies in a litter, and these siblings are able to discriminate between their own scents and those of other litters. Siblings share a burrow for the first few months of their lives until they reach sexual maturity at about three months after birth. Though armadillos are not social creatures, they remain with their own siblings before digging their own burrows and exhibit aggressive behavior towards any non-sibling armadillos.

    Mating

    • Most of the interaction that occurs between adult armadillos occurs during the breeding season of the summer months. During this time, males will follow females around in a long period of courtship until the female gives in. After breeding takes place, the male may go on to court another female. However, females usually only breed with one male per year. If a female becomes pregnant, she exhibits aggression toward fellow females until she gives birth.