Dead armadillo found on north-central Indiana bridge

On Wednesday, Indiana Conservation Officer Brenda Louthain responded to a call she certainly doesn't receive every day.

There, on the Washington Street bridge in the north-central Indiana city of Monticello, lay a dead nine-banded armadillo that had been hit by a car.

Could it have been someone's bizarre pet? Did it escape from a traveling zoo? Or was this a wild creature that migrated far from its native home?

Nobody knows.

"We have no idea where it came from or how it got here," the Department of Natural Resources posted Wednesday on its Facebook page. "We have learned that armadillos smell terrible."

But these mammals — known for their distinctive leathery, scaly armor — have been expanding from their traditional southern range over the past several years.

Wildlife experts say there also have been a number of recent armadillo sightings in Southern Indiana.

Indiana's first confirmed armadillo report was in 2003 on I-64 just east of the Illinois line in Gibson County, according to the Associated Press, but they've also been spotted in Daviess, Dubois, Parke, Perry, Pike and Vanderburgh counties.

This could be the farthest north one of them has been spotted in Indiana, but Hoosiers might well see more of them in the years ahead.

Some biologists say armadillo populations are expanding and have not reached the full extent of their possible range.

With global warming, the National Wildlife Federation says, one study predicts they might soon settle as far north as Massachusetts.

DNR spokesman Phil Bloom said armadillos are listed as an exotic mammal under Indiana law, and you don't need a permit to keep an armadillo.

However, you're not allowed to capture or harm a wild one unless it is spotted damaging property.

These armored mammals are remarkably fascinating creatures.

They can hold their breath for up to six minutes as they swim, even appearing to "walk" along the bottoms of rivers, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

They're also food for people in some parts of the country.

During the Great Depression, they were dubbed the "Hoover hog" or "poor man's pork."

Though I'm an adventurous wild game eater, I'm not sure I'd be rushing out to eat one.

At least one recent study linked armadillos as the source of a number of leprosy cases thought to be associated with armadillo hunters in Louisiana and Texas.

And, as officer Louthain learned, armadillos might not smell too great, either.

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @ryansabalow.