Henry and Edsel

[Marilyn C]

I am raising two baby armadillos.    They were brought to me because someone was digging a pond, and bulldozed a tree.
Under the tree was their den, and their mother and two brothers were killed.     They are almost big enough to be released.   I am waiting on some rain, to soften up the ground a little.

I put them out every day in a cage that has no bottom and let them dig.    They are digging machines!  I feed them night crawlers, meal worms, and peach or strawberry yogurt.   The rest of the time, they stay in a big pet tote.   They have jibbled newspaper up into little strips and they make it into a big ball and sleep underneath it.    They're very cute.   They are good little boys...not really much trouble.   When they want something to eat, they press their faces to the door on the tote.

Henry is a little bigger than Edsel.   Edsel just didn't catch on as fast as Henry.   Henry would be face first in a saucer of  meal worms and Edsel would be looking all over the place for them.

Baby armadillos are sort of pink and look almost like plastic when they are little.   A mother armadillo has one egg that splits to make 4 clones.   So she either has 4 boys or 4 girls. 

I have a culture of meal worms, but they eat about a quarter cup of them at a time and that is just a snack.   I buy night crawlers but I need to start raising them.   I don't think these will be the last armadillos that I will be raising.
The rehabber who used to raise the armadillos passed away last year...and looks like I have inherited her job.   As if I wasn't busy enough with possums.

[Indiana Karen]

Very interesting Marilyn.  I have never seen a live armadillo, only ones that have been hit in the road while on vacation down south.  How amazing about the one egg.

My mother-in-law had a real gift for raising orphaned baby animals.  I know from watching her how much time and patience is involved.  They are lucky to have you.

Karen

[Marilyn C]

My mother did that too.   She was very good at raising orphan animals of every kind.

[Pa Nancy]

Ahhhh they are so cute. I've never seen one alive either. When I was in Georgia a couple years ago I saw one mushed on the road.

[Esther]

Hey, what fun!! I like their names. Are they from the automotive industry? Is there a story about them?

[Marilyn C]

The story behind their names...

Edsel, the car....didn't catch on.

Edsel, the armadillo was a little slow figuring out where the food was.    I named the other one, Henry, to go with Edsel...Henry and Edsel Ford.

[jclements]

Marilyn, they are precious. I like the names too.

They for some reason remind me of our Easter ducks. When Dylan was maybe 1 or 2, we purchased some of those dyed ducks. They were named Chester (yellow) and Maude (green).

[karen J]

Marilyn, Your Armadillos are so cute. I am jealous. What an amazing animal to have the opportunity to rehab! You are good. 

[Marilyn C]

Thanks, Karen.   BTW, if you go see my pond mentor this summer, tell him "hi" from me.

Jessica, ah, yes!  Easter ducks!   I remember them well.   I don't remember their names....but I remember that Grandma and Daddy brought them home from the feed store one day.    They wiped out my first collection of waterlilies.

[jclements]

Uh oh, the first collection?! Chester and Maude had issues with dogs in the neighborhood, so we took them to a secluded pond at my dad's hunting preserve. They sure were cute!

We found a live armadillo in my MIL's window well once. The poor thing was terrified. Dh lifted him out and let him go. They sound pretty fun to watch!

[karen J]

Marylin, I do need to visit your pond mentor. The Indiana he sold me is actually an Aurora... ... but who cares anyway! A visit with him is just wonderful. His place is the most amazing thing you could imagine. And he is a wealth of information. If my kids "let" me go, I will definitely tell him you said Hello. I really enjoy his "Quizzes"... yup, it's like a final exam... thank goodness I pass. 

I am still looking for the Equisetum giangteum that was on his wish list. Gosh, that's a hard-to-find little sucker! The Equisetum fluviatile (a native Illinois Horsetail) that he sold me is one of my favorite plants. Beautiful.

[Marilyn C]

A friend and I used to travel with him to the waterlily symposiums and the Louisiana iris society conventions.   Also, he came to her nursery in New Mexico one time and gave a pond seminar for her customers.    He is so much fun, and so funny.   On garden tours, we always sit in the back of the bus, where there are 3 seats together and we laugh until we are hysterical.   When he was a professor, his students really loved him, and I can understand why.

We always go out and look in ditches and take back roads, go in the swamps in Louisiana.    Truly one of my favorite people on earth.   I need to get ahold of him and Nancy, my other friend, and arrange to meet somewhere...some kind of halfway point.

[Viv]

I love their names, little armored vehicles indeed! What a lot of hard work and time you must put into rehabbing...

I'm sure the Lord will reward you one day Marilyn!

[Marilyn C]

Thank you, Viv.   It takes at least 3 hours a day to take care of the animals here.  I have little time for anything else.

I wish the Lord would reward me now by having people be a little more tolerant of wildlife and stop trapping them (possums) because they eat their cat food (Put up your cat food at night, idiots!!) and sending them to me.   I have 3 more coming this afternoon.   I have released a bunch and I still have over 50.   And Henry and Edsel are still here too.

[CliffandJoann]

Awwww, that's so cute.

Joann