How Far Is Your Trip?

[Joshua Caldwell]

Seeing that an armadillo is really a rat with a crash helmet

You've got me laughing for a while - so true.

 

[karl]

More like an opossum wearing Armor I think.

 

[hippazoid]

More like an opossum wearing Armor I think.

Yep... When I lived in La as a teen, I personally dubbed them 'Armored Possums' . (Not opossum... Gimme a break... I was just a kid! )

Hipp

 

[Zipper]

...
Another serious thought comes to mind, Armadillo, I don't think 5.75" ground clearance will let us pass over one of them. What would be the results of hitting a 'Dilla', at 50-70 mph, go airborne, a sure roll over?? I surely don't want to 'Test' the roll cage on the way home from La. I would much rather get my Elio and me home safely.

The 2000 VW Jetta that's my current daily driver has more than 290,000 miles on it and is suffering from significant suspension droop. Ground clearance is approximately 4" now. I replaced the plastic belly pan with one made of press-formed steel sheet. It does _not_ clear most roadkill. Just irons the roadkill down to 4" thick. Big noise. Zero damage. The Jetta weighs about 3,000 lbs.

I would expect an Elio encounter with anything much bigger than your average rabbit is going to not only produce damage to the plastic underparts, but could also produce a significant disturbance in trajectory for the 1,500 lb. (loaded) vehicle.

Be careful out there.

 

[Dustoff]

10-21-2005 - "Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the armadillo that it could be done." Armadillos are amongst the most common of Florida's roadkill victims. Several factors contribute to this animal's tendency to become vulture fare.

First of all, armadillos are particularly vulnerable because they are not alert. Some animals are ever-cautious and aware, always keen of their surroundings, sniffing the air, feeling vibrations in the ground, slinking off into the night before any chance of danger comes their way. Some animals bumble along through life, blindly stumbling over, across, and through any obstacle in their way, blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Armadillos fall into the latter category. In short, they don't look both ways before they cross the street. In fact, I don't think the animal looks at much at all, other than the patch of dirt directly beyond its snout. Thus, the animal blindly lumbers across our highways, counting on its shell to save it from danger. While the bony skin may work wonders against fox, it doesn't fare so well against a couple of tons of steel traveling at 60 m.p.h.

Secondly, there's the matter of speed. Armadillos can run when they must, but for the most part, they're slow. Most creatures with shells (think turtles and snails) tend to the slow and steady lane of the critter expressway. Dillos are similar. They pretty much root around, scuffling along, plodding and poking, and rarely breaking into full sprint, which pretty much involves a series of quick, powerful hops. The slow speed of the animal, along with its tendency to wander back and forth rather than travel in purposeful lines, means that it spends quite a bit more time in our roadways than the average animal. If getting hit by a car means being in the wrong place at the wrong time, armadillos do all they can to extend that "wrong time" window as long as possible. If only they knew to quickly hop out of the wrong place, the road, quickly.

This brings us to the third problem armadillos have with autos. When startled, the animal has a delightful tendency to jump straight up into the air. While this tactic may do a decent job of thwarting attacking predators, it also does a splendid job of facilitating the meeting of the animal with a car's undercarriage. So where a slow, steady opossum might watch a roaring car straddle harmlessly overhead, a startled dillo will leap upward to its death. As with any roadkill, there's the standard mix of automobiles and small terrestrial creatures whose territory overlaps roads. It's true that Orlando is full of both cars and armadillos.

 

[wizard of ahs]

Back on track.......730 miles......we'll see how many hours

 

[Dustoff]

My travel time home from LA. It looks like 1 tank.

average speed:
68 mph

total distance:
557.9 miles

total time:
9h 44min

breaks:
1h 30min

travel time:
8h 14min

fuel
6.6 gallon(s)
average consumption
mpg

fuel costs:
25.08 $
average price
$/gallon

you could adjust these values

 

[tazairforce]

10-21-2005 - "Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the armadillo that it could be done." Armadillos are amongst the most common of Florida's roadkill victims. Several factors contribute to this animal's tendency to become vulture fare.

First of all, armadillos are particularly vulnerable because they are not alert. Some animals are ever-cautious and aware, always keen of their surroundings, sniffing the air, feeling vibrations in the ground, slinking off into the night before any chance of danger comes their way. Some animals bumble along through life, blindly stumbling over, across, and through any obstacle in their way, blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Armadillos fall into the latter category. In short, they don't look both ways before they cross the street. In fact, I don't think the animal looks at much at all, other than the patch of dirt directly beyond its snout. Thus, the animal blindly lumbers across our highways, counting on its shell to save it from danger. While the bony skin may work wonders against fox, it doesn't fare so well against a couple of tons of steel traveling at 60 m.p.h.

Secondly, there's the matter of speed. Armadillos can run when they must, but for the most part, they're slow. Most creatures with shells (think turtles and snails) tend to the slow and steady lane of the critter expressway. Dillos are similar. They pretty much root around, scuffling along, plodding and poking, and rarely breaking into full sprint, which pretty much involves a series of quick, powerful hops. The slow speed of the animal, along with its tendency to wander back and forth rather than travel in purposeful lines, means that it spends quite a bit more time in our roadways than the average animal. If getting hit by a car means being in the wrong place at the wrong time, armadillos do all they can to extend that "wrong time" window as long as possible. If only they knew to quickly hop out of the wrong place, the road, quickly.

This brings us to the third problem armadillos have with autos. When startled, the animal has a delightful tendency to jump straight up into the air. While this tactic may do a decent job of thwarting attacking predators, it also does a splendid job of facilitating the meeting of the animal with a car's undercarriage. So where a slow, steady opossum might watch a roaring car straddle harmlessly overhead, a startled dillo will leap upward to its death. As with any roadkill, there's the standard mix of automobiles and small terrestrial creatures whose territory overlaps roads. It's true that Orlando is full of both cars and armadillos.

Armadillo Cuisine: Cooking a Hoover Hog

I Googled 'How to cook an Armadillo' and found that some where they actually cook them 'In the shell'.
'In some South American countries they cook the armadillo in the shell on the grill (after gutting it) split side down. It is then eaten out of the shell. One can do the same thing near an open camp fire getting rid of the need for pots or pans'. This seems like a Good camping idea.
Just use a large 'Can Cooker' and steam with potatoes, carrot, etc. I found 2 bottles of 'Larry the Cable Guy',
'ROAD KILL' seasoned salt, should work gr8 with this recipe. Added these bottles to my collection of spices.

 

[Folks]

Flash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Armadillos in America are proven carriers of the Mycobacterium leprae which causes leprosy. Ugg.

 

[tazairforce]

Flash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Armadillos in America are proven carriers of the Mycobacterium leprae which causes leprosy. Ugg.

NOT TRUE!!. Armadillo in the US have Never been tested positive for leprosy.

That said let’s take care of a persistent rumor. A 2008 study firmly put to rest the rumor that you can get leprosy from eating armadillo. No correlation was found between handling armadillos, hunting them, cleaning them or eating them and having leprosy. Armadillos can occasionally have leprosy — the only other mammal that can get it — but thorough cooking would take care of the problem if it occurred. Of some 2500 armadillos caught and tested in Florida, none had leprosy. Your chances of meeting an armadillo with leprosy are slim to none.