Don't touch the dillos... and don't eat them either

Happy Armadillo!!!

Sad Armadillo!

I've seen many smashed up armadillo carcasses on the sides of highways, apparently trying to make some desperate, slow attempt to cross the road or just make a change in their lives. I've sort of felt sorry for those little guys because they are seriously too unattractive for anyone to want to hug them or show them any sort of love. Who ever heard of a pet armadillo? That's sort of what makes them cute - their absolute hopelessness as pets or objects of affection.

Well, my intermittent sympathy for armadillos has basically crashed and burned, considering that they apparently are seriously sources of leprosy!

Does anyone even remember leprosy??? Where are leper colonies in the world today? It turns out there really aren't many, but until just the last century, a decently sized leper colony existed in Carville, Louisiana:

Now, lepers are basically a thing of the past, or so we thought. As it turns out, up to 15% of armadillos in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi are infected with leprosy! It's apparently pretty easy to get leprosy from an armadillo because the human and armadillo strains of the disease are remarkably similar.

Next time you think about moving or eating roadkill, think again.