Bizzare Facts

The **armadillo** (Spanish for 'little armored one') is the tank of the animal kingdom. Its shell is constructed from osteoderms—plates of bone that grow in the skin—covered by a hard layer of keratin, the same protein found in human fingernails and rhino horns. This armor is designed to protect the animal from the claws and teeth of predators, but it is surprisingly effective against modern weaponry as well.

There are multiple documented cases of armadillo shells deflecting bullets. In 2015, a man in Texas attempted to shoot an armadillo in his yard with a .38 revolver. The bullet ricocheted off the animal's hard shell, flew back at the shooter, and struck him in the jaw. He had to be airlifted to a hospital for surgery. A similar incident occurred in Georgia, where a bullet bounced off an armadillo and hit the shooter's mother-in-law in the back.

While we absolutely do not recommend testing this yourself (it is dangerous for both you and the animal), the armadillo stands as living proof that nature's engineering can sometimes rival man-made ballistics. It is a creature that literally brings a shield to a gunfight—and wins.