Armadillo'd and Dangerous

It’s official—MythBusters can skip the episode on whether or not an armadillo’s shell is strong enough to repel a bullet. Because it happened early Thursday morning—again. 

For the second time this year a person firing a gun at an armadillo inadvertently injured someone after a bullet ricocheted off the critter’s body.

The first time it was in Georgia, when 74-year-old Carol Johnson was struck in the back while sitting in a recliner inside her home after her son-in-law, outside and 100 yards away, shot at an armadillo with a 9 mm pistol.

This time it was in Texas, and the injured person was the shooter himself. 

According to Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe, an unidentified man spotted an armadillo outside his home at approximately 3 a.m. Thursday and opened fire with a .38 revolver. 

Then he went to the hospital to have his jaw wired shut.

Living up to its name—in Spanish, armadillo translates to “little armored one”— the mammal’s leathery shell was tough enough to send the last of the three bullets the man fired at it into the side of his face, Rowe said.

As for the armadillo? 

“We didn’t find the armadillo,” Rowe said.