Date: June 14, 2022

Place: 10 minutes walk from: 1475 County Rd 258, Liberty Hill, TX 78642

Time: around 6pm

Weather: sunny, approx. 35 C

Brief description of tracking area:

We were walking along a dirt road through an area of land that had been partially cleared in the past for development. The road had some very fine dusty/sandy spots where tracks registered very well. As we were walking along this road I heard what sounded like an animal clumsily running through the undergrowth.

Armadillo tracks:

I saw the some tracks (see below) which I didn’t immediately recognize as armadillo. I didn’t have a tape measure so in some photos I put my foot in the picture for scale.

(You can click on a photo to see greater detail.)

As stated on the ‘iTrack Pro’ app,

”Armadillo typically use an overstep walk, where the hind tracks are found beyond the front tracks.”

And

”While armadillo have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their hind feet, these additional toes are small and rarely present.”

I attach a sketch of armadillo tracks (again), scanned from the book

‘Scats and Tracks of North America’, James C. Halfpenny, Falcon Guides:

Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the ‘Mammal Tracks & Sign’ book by Elbroch he notes that armadillo “Readily use existing roads and trails”.