Hi ho, MMMLogerinos!

We haven't heard from the Kansas Heckler, who has interests we certainly didn't imagine, and suddenly this illuminating bit of Kansas Heckler hit the inbox:

"The sun is shining, the Kansas breeze is below gale force and my boss just
left town for the rest of the week. What do you think about that!

"The latest pest to migrate to Kansas is the 9-banded armadillo from Texas.
We are starting to see them dead along the road, and they have been sighted
as far north as the Platte River in Nebraska. They are not cold hardy, but
dig a really deep nest and with our milder winters could conceivably do well
and just keep enlarging their territory. Their reproduction habits are the
weirdest. They mate in July and then the female puts that single embryo on
hold until November at which time the embryo divides itself into 4 units and
in the spring Mama gives birth to identical quadruplets. Really! Makes you
glad you're not an armadillo.

"Other odd armadillo facts: They are frequent road kills because when
startled they jump straight up in the air. That's a good habit out in the
wild, but on the asphalt it just makes a short animal a really good target.
They are the state animal of Texas which might explain their need to move
out and mess up other folks' property (digging burrows all over the place.)
They are omnivorous but prefer to eat primarily grubs and bugs and can turn
your beautiful yard into a plowed field in one night of feasting. Oh yeah,
they are originally from South America. I have no idea how they got to
Texas. According to several folks who consider themselves
wild-meat-gourmets, they are consumable but not really edible. Sort of like
an old desert burro. Keep you from starving."

And there you go--more than you ever wanted to know about armadillos.

Ciao, ciao, MMMMMMMMMMelinda