A New Exotic Animal is Making Its Way to Pennsylvania

As the climates in the U.S. continue to change due to rising temperatures, we are seeing animals and insects respond by migrating to different environments

Photo byFausto MarquésonUnsplash

When you think about the armadillo, you usually imagine Texas or maybe New Mexico, but definitely not Pennsylvania. That's about to change. We could start seeing armadillos in Pennsylvania by the end of the century, if not sooner.

Nine-banded armadillos expanded across Tennessee in less than 50 years and they will continue to spread across the eastern United States. The map below shows their approximate travel patterns.

Map of armadillo migration patternsPhoto byWikimedia Commons

Armadillos have been expanding north for years. They originally came from South America, where there are still twenty different species. The armadillos were part of the Great American Interchange that began 6.7 million years ago when Panama’s land bridge joined North and South America.

How soon they arrive in Pennsylvania depends on climate change. The faster temperatures rise, the quicker we will see armadillos migrate to Pennsylvania and other eastern states. The interesting thing about armadillos is that their expansion in the U.S. is nearly ten times faster than the average rate expected for a mammal.

Because armadillos have no fur, they can be sensitive to cold temperatures. But recently they have shown resistance to the cold. Yale Climate Connections says, “Researchers now believe that armadillos can thrive as long as average minimum temperatures stay above about 17 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Pittsburgh has 12 to 32 days each winter that drop below 17, which would probably be way too cold for an armadillo. But Pennsylvania winters have been warming since the 1970s. The 2022-2023 winter was among the five warmest winters in Philadelphia with record-low levels of snow.

“They can actually go and form a den. In that area, they could be isolated from the fluctuations that occur in the exterior,” Augustin Jimenez of Southern Illinois University says.

Jimenez says that when winters are warmer, worms and grubs stay closer to the surface of the ground, where it’s easier for armadillos to find them.

“The warmer the weather, the more food there will be for them,” he says.

Gardeners must be prepared. Armadillos are notorious for digging holes in the ground and they are headed this way!