Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Armadillo

Meet the Armadillo. This lovely statue is proudly displayed in front of a barbecue restaurant in Houston, and no they do not serve Armadillo. Texans seem to have a love hate relationship with this funny looking mammal that some mistakenly call a rodent.

I remember a few years ago when my husband's Rotary club was hosting a group study exchange, of young professionals, from Germany. We took them to the Texas hill country to stay over-night on a ranch. On a tour to show us his herd,  the rancher pulled his gun out of his holster and shot at an armadillo, thankfully missing it. . He explained, that to the ranchers they are pests, that dig holes in the ground causing cattle to break their legs. . One of the candidates, a beautiful young female doctor , was horrified. First of all that he would shoot at anything....and especially something that she was sure was....extinct! She thought armadillos were part of the prehistoric age and had no idea that they still existed. Later, that afternoon, she could be seen in the pasture chasing after armadillos ( that seemed to be running in circles) trying desperately to get a photograph.She would see one, squeal with delight and take off running with her camera. You could see her, running in circles in the distance until well past sunset!

No comments:

Post a Comment