Did You Know There Are Armadillos in Daviess County, Kentucky?

A few years back, when Jaclyn Graves and I biked from Memphis, Tennessee to Owensboro, Kentucky for our Sweatin' for St. Jude event, we cycled through the Kentucky Lake region of the Commonwealth.  While I wasn't surprised to bike past a lot of roadkill, I was surprised to see a good deal of armadillos in Kentucky.  We rode past several that had met their demise on the roads and parkways. And, I'll be honest.  Until that bike ride, I'm not even sure I was aware we had armadillos here.

A few years ago here at WBKR, Angel shared some history about the migration of armadillos into western Kentucky. According to her research, armadillos started migrating from parts of Missouri and Kansas in the late 90s and they were first spotted in the Land Between the Lakes back in 1997.

Well, because they seem to have been able to adapt to cooler temperatures, they're clearly moving north.  On Friday night, my friend Dawn Welborn shared video on her Facebook page.  She lives in the Deer Valley Subdivision out in Utica here in Daviess County. There was an armadillo making itself at home at her neighbor's, the Lott's, front door.

Dawn took some video, shared it and it basically went Owensboro's version of viral.  Take a look!

Hey, the armadillo clearly saw that Dawn's neighbor's UK doormat said, "Welcome!"   While some folks (like me) were excited to see the video and think that armadillos are really cute, others weren't as thrilled.  Some were concerned about the animal's reputation.  While it's true that a small percentage of armadillos can carry leprosy, it's important to note that the risk of transmitting that to humans is incredibly low.

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Lisa McMahan, who grew up in Mississippi, notes that "they are everywhere there."  But, for her, Dawn's video was a first.  It was the first time she had seen one here in Daviess County.

Nearly 400 Facebook shares later, it seems that's true for a lot of folks.  The armadillos have come to Owensboro.  And now we have video to prove it!