Killer Armadillos???

I checked the kitten really closely today, and there were no signs of any trauma, not even disturbed hair. This was a healthy, thriving kitten so it's a puzzle to me. If people think animals don't grieve, they should've seen the rest of my cats this morning before I removed the body. They were all sitting around it, like a human visitation. When I came out, they all vocalized their sorrow to me. The kitten's littermate is now really keen on coming to me when I call it. Poor dear, as much as I don't care for cats, this was sad and touching. Will watch tonight for the dillo twins. If there are two young ones, there has to be parents as well. With all the wooded and open land around here, why do they feel the need to be here with my two big dogs and all these cats??

I don't think the armadillo killed your kitten. When we lived in the country several years ago, we had lots of cats that came to our cat's food. The armadillos also showed up but they were after the bugs that came to the guard light in our backyard.

From what I have read armadillos have poor vision...my husband surprised one in my front garden one morning when he went out to head to work at 3:30am. He said the armadillo jumped 2 feet high and took off at a dead run. I had been finding some of my flower garden beds torn up...with his find I realized it was the armadillo's work--appeared he was digging for grubs.

This Spring I thought I had armadillos again since something was digging up my veggie garden. But finally figured out it was a skunk. We trapped it, unfortunately the last few mornings I have found more holes in my veggie garden beds.

Since we know we have skunks in our yard, we are taking that into consideration for the run/coop.

I'm sorry for the loss of your kitten. Animals do grieve, and I'm sure they miss their little friend. It's possible with all that running and jumping around that the armadillos were doing, they startled the kitten and he jumped or ran into something solid and broke his own neck.

Yes, I have heard they jump when startled. The only dillos I had seen before my previous experience, were dead on the road. Back in the 70s, I was an OTR trucker, and saw many dead dillos. Never hit one though, someone always beat me to it. The kitten was found way clear of any objects that it could've run into, he/she was in a wide open area near the house. I doubt if he had run into anything with such force as to break his own neck, he would not have been able to travel very far. As for the leprosy thing, they do tend to carry the bacteria under their claws from what I've read. I now assume, they have taken up residency under the shed I will be converting to a coop. Can't imagine they would want to put up with all the "traffic" and dogs here to live? The only animals being fed outside now are the cats, and they eat it all up within 15 minutes, dry food at that. No trash outside either, so even if they do go for a trash can, it ain't here. Guess I should be glad it's only dillos and not bears! We had a scare of that nature about 10 years ago. Game Warden swore it was probably a 200 lb. black bear. To me, it sounded more like a lion, not a cougar, AN AFRICAN LION! Tracks found two weeks later confirmed a big cat. Warden then admitted there were quite a few "rare animal hunting reserves" near here that had gone out of business, and that ALL SORTS of animals were showing up at local taxidermists! In other words, the bankrupt farms had set these animals free! Ggggreat! I awoke one morning to what sounded like a bull elk bugling down on the bottom land below me. Guess I wasn't dreaming after all. Who knows, dillos may be the least of my problems!

No. Armadillos are related to anteaters. They have no enamel on their teeth, and they have very few teeth which consist of just a few molars and that's it (I studied them in biology class in college). The most they can do is eat softer things like insects, worms, and fruits and veggies and garbage that requires little chewing and can easily be slurped up by their long sticky tongues. They couldn't even scavenge a carcass if they wanted to.

The most they do to chicken owners is eat eggs that are on the ground.

Something else unfortunately killed your poor kitten. The armadillos were probably just coincidently there before or after the fact.

umm if ur cats arej ust kitten and left outside by themsleves? NO armadillo did not kill your cats but what did kill them is probably a local tom cat or a dog or a hawk or a snake or who knows what

a kitten cant take care of itself and will be killed easy just about anypredator


armadilo would never touch it though if it had a broken neck it was a dog

Kitten wasn't alone, it's with mom and all his aunties. These are outdoor cats, would not have one in my house, ever. We don't have stray dogs here, and the only dogs here live in the house. The kitten is put into a small crate everytime I let the dogs out, just to be on the safe side. I'm thinking, he went to see what the dillos were doing and they ran into him. No bite marks or even disturbed hair, just dead.

Debbi said:

  Last night befoe I went to bed, I hear a few of my cats outside making a ruccus. Turned on the porch light, thinking it was the local Tom cat after my girls, but to my surprise, it was two armadillos running around the yard! They looked young, and like they were playing. When they would run near the cats, they all jumped and screamed, and ran. Went outside this morning, and there was a dead, 9 week old kitten laying on the ground where the dillos had been. No blood that I could see, but looked like his neck was broken. Did the armadillos kill him?? Do they go after chickens?? They are fairly new in my area, migrating north from Arkansas, and I had one that did a lot of damage to plants a few years back. That one evidently got hit by a car, so didn't have any more problems till now. I know they eat grubs and vegetation, but do they kill small animals? May just set up camp in the back of the pickup tonight with the 12 gauge, sure don't need any more predators than I have already, and my garden may also be their next target! Any ideas?? Thanks.

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I sadly ran into the same thing...my kitten was about 6-8months roughly..so I think they do or will kill kittens however the mom cat may have accedently ran into it and one of her kittens followed and scared the armadillo (s) and if the kittens head got caught inside the armadillo it would have snapped its neck...