Baby Armadillos

One day, early last spring, a farmer in Oklahoma found four newborn armadillos in a burrow under a haystack. He should have left them right there for the mother armadillo to care for them. But instead he put them in a bucket and took them to town to show them off.

The armadillos were only a day or two old and were all males. In fact, they were identical quadruplets. That’s like identical twins, but twice as many—and that’s the way all armadillos are born.

Most farmers hate armadillos because they dig holes in their fields. And this farmer was no different. After showing the baby armadillos off to his friends, he said he was going to throw them into a dumpster. But a woman overheard him and asked if she could have them instead.

SEARCH FOR A 'DILLO SITTER

The woman made some phone calls, looking for someone to take care of the babies. Finally she reached Tracy Beasley. Tracy and her daughter Hether are licensed wildlife rehabilitators. That means they have permission to take care of sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals.

"The poor little things were so cold when we got them," said Tracy. One baby got pneumonia and died two days later, she said, and that’s why there are only three shown in the photo.

Tracy and Hether fed the babies a mixture of Esbilac (puppy milk formula) and fresh cream every three hours around the clock for the first couple of weeks. "I had the day shift, and Hether had the night," said Tracy. Later they fed the armadillos baby cereal mixed with kitten chow.

"Because they all looked the same, we numbered them on their backs with a magic marker," said Tracy. "This was how we made sure that they all got fed." After about eight weeks, the babies could eat on their own.

'DILLOS IN THE LIVING ROOM
Soon the little armadillos outgrew the box they were living in, so Tracy and Hether moved a plastic kiddie pool into the middle of their living room and added some soil. It was a perfect new home.

When the weather became warmer, Tracy and Hether built an outside pen where the baby armadillos could romp and play—and of course practice digging. (Almost nothing likes to dig as much as a 'dillo!) Tracy and Hether also took them for walks.

"We would turn over rocks and boards so the 'dillos could chow down on the tasty bugs hidden beneath," Tracy said. "They always stayed right with us on these outings."

The armadillos' day of release finally came when they were about three months old. "We practice the three Rs: rescue, rehab, and release. We don’t keep any wildlife as pets," said Tracy. "We also try hard to educate people about wild animals. We make sure they understand that wild animals don’t make good pets, and they deserve to be free."

Wildlife rehabbers do not get paid for caring for wildlife. All expenses come out of their own pockets. Tracy says, "We do this because we love and respect nature and all the beauty it gives us." And there couldn’t be any better ending to this story than that!