One of my favorite animals to find on a hike is the nine banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus). It’s not because of their incredible beauty or their outgoing personalities, but because of their uniqueness. How many other mammals carry their own suit of armor around with them? They also have very poor eyesight, which is evidenced by the tiny size of their eyes. They make up for that, though, by having an amazing sense of smell. If startled or concerned, they will often sit up on their haunches and sniff the air. Their poor eyesight makes it fairly easy to sneak up on them as long as you stay down wind. I was able to get fairly close to this one that was foraging in some long grass in Gothe State Forest. I then sat quietly and waited for it to move towards me. I clicked this and a couple of other closeups, then waited until it turned away and quietly got up and snuck away again. The little ‘dillo never had any idea that it had its portrait taken. Probably a good thing since I don’t need his friends and family pestering me for copies!