Our Own Armadillo
Posted at 5:02 AM on March 4, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(29 Comments)
Don't forget to register to win free tickets to the Susan Werner & Cheryl Wheeler Concert this Sunday at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis!
Some restrictions may apply.
Yesterday, the Minnesota Zoo proudly announced the arrival of a baby Armadillo, only the third three banded Armadillo born in a U.S. Zoo this year.
Oh, wait a minute, the year is only 9 weeks old.
But anyway, that's an unusual thing, to have an Armadillo enter the world through Minnesota, especially this three banded variety, which is native to South America and is different and more exotic than the kind of Armadillo generally found flattened along the side of Texas highways.
Two qualities which make this the sort of creature a Minnesotan can love - The zoo describes them as "solitary mammals", and the three-bander is the only variety of Armadillo that can enclose itself completely by rolling up into a ball.
I think it's worthy of a welcoming verse:
Many honorifics go to
Our great state of Minnesota.Home of Humphrey. Northern Star.
Place Where Lakes For Fishing Are.Land of Walleyes Worth the Mounting.
Land of Endless Ballot Counting.Land O' Frost and Land O' Chill, Oh
Birthplace of The Armadillo.Not that we have birthed a ton,
Or more than just this single one,But one is one more than there was
Before this one arrived, becauseThere is no armadillo excess,
So far north of Lubbock, Texas.So let's salute this tiny sphere,
This triple banded pioneerWho deals with danger, threats and fright
By curling up and getting tight.He doesn't run or fight at all,
But makes himself into a ball.He ducks his head and lifts his toes
And bends his spine. Around he goes!Then tucks his hat and boots and coat in,
Like a native Minnesotan.
How else might we welcome this little critter to the frozen north?
Comments (29)
Very nice verse, Dale, and very appropriate, too. You do us proud. I'm anxious to read what other Radio Heartlanders may write.
Morning Heartlanders! I'm don't know much about armadillos, but I'm sure we can welcome the little guy/little gal with music. Unfortunately, I also don't know any armadillo music either!! Dale & Mike - you always seem to be able to pull something amazing out of the library -- what is good armadillo music?
Good Morning Everyone in Heart Land:
How about introducing our new addition to all the other critters of Heartland through song? Dale, you probably could find a loon song, or a wolf tune, maybe a moose ditty? A musical ark?
Dale,
You have as always, sayed it all and played it all.
My only addition is my favorite piece of armadillo trivia....As I recall armadillos are the only other animals besides humans who can get leprosy.
Have a great day!
Unfortunately, my only interaction with an armadillo took place on a highway while driving to New Orleans. It didn't work out too well for the car... but even worse for the armadillo.
There is actually a small page of Armadillo Music on DilloScape (thanks, Google). Who knew?
What will this new armadillo do if it can do what it wants to do in Minnesota? Will it dilly dally around the zoo? I don't know. Now that we are armed with a new armadillo can we find it a pillow or what will we find for the new armadillo to do in Minnesota at the zoo?
Been doing a little googling and found there's a song by Elton John from Road to El Dorado soundtrack called, Hey Armadillo.
Does anyone know how long before the little fellow reaches the cute stage? Do we know its gender?
Love your poem Dale!
enjoying all the creativity this morning - thanks Dale for the poem for the armadillo - i think Ogden Nash would be proud of you!
good morning!
Good morning,
Given that the baby's family history lies in South America, how about some good flute music from the Andes?
Hey, do we get to name the baby? This group should be full of wonderful suggestions!
I think I put too many important armadillo links into my comment, because it didn't go through but got put into a waiting for approval queue. ;-)
All I wanted to do when I saw the picture was find a ball of warm yarn and my crochet hook and start on a little warm hooded sweater for our little friend.
It is nice to see an armadillo that is not along side the road (I've spent too much time in Texas, I think - my first encounter with a live armadillo was here at the Minnesota zoo).
Donna, I hate to argue with you, but I think she (he) is already cute. Now a nice warm hooded sweater in a rainbow of colors would certainly make it cuter.
Some welcoming goat music from our animal Heartlanders would be nice, I think. But the Andean music is wonderful, also.
Have a great day, Heartlanders, and celebrate the miracles that give us Andean armadillos in Minnesota in the dead of winter.
The Lavender Wench
Good morning….I’m feeling warmer.
Armadillos in Minnesota….. hmmmm.
I have a friend who plays in a Twin Cities Rockin’ Blues group called Armadillo Jump that’s the closest Armadillo reference I’ve heard till now.
In trying to come up with an idea for a song I came up with Tumbling Tumbleweeds.
The baby may be from Brazil but I bet he or she would like it.
Ok Lindi, maybe it is a little cute. Understand, though, that I live down here in So. Dak. so I am naturally more objective about its adorableness. No baby armadillo in our zoo to boast of :(
Are all lavender wenches spunky?
Kathy mentioned a musical ark - how about "The Unicorn" by the Irish Rovers? No armadillos mentioned specifically, but plenty of other mammals.
Good Morning!
I did a double take when I opened the blog this morning. I saw the headline about having our own armadillo and as my eyes moved to the picture of the cute little guy (sorry Donna) and my eyes passed over the first line in the blog that says don't forget to register to win and for a moment I thought we were being given the opportunity to win an armadillo! I think I need more coffee!
Always a pleasure to read poetry and this is another fine entry from Dale. Also nice to hear the pan flute! Now if there were some throat singing, the day would be beyond perfect.
Have a great day everyone!
Oh good!! I'd like to register to win the armadillo!
How about "Place in the Choir" for the little armadillo guy?
I had a Tuvan armadilla
She liked to drink much sarsaparilla
And when she began to feel her oats
She sang marvelously with her throats
I think the zookeepers should tuck it in at night after a reading of Jan Brett's "Armadillo Rodeo" picture book!
Howdy:
I just got to my office computer. Do you have "The Armadillo" in your Flanders & Swann collection? It's about another armadillo out of place.
Thanks Dale, Claudia Schmidt AND throat singing! This is my brother's birthday and I make a point of listening to some special music in his memory and this set was the best, he would have loved it.
Thank you for the armadillo poem, Dale. I always love your topical verses, and the rhymes in this one are especially felicitous.
Loved hearing the Spider John, Susan Werner, and Kurt Elling (with whom I was not familiar) songs on my morning drive. Great selections.
Uau! Caetano Veloso! Well done Jasper!
Also was pleased to hear Kurt Elling. Don't recall him being that into music in college, but he's done well since. Not that we ran in the same circles, but I was involved in music there and don't recall his name being at the forefront at the time. You never know what people will do after college!! Hooray for Liberal Arts!
hi ya--
say, that song "place in the choir" would also be great for the Music to Die For/Music to Live for CD set...a good singalong song!
My sister reminded me of an armadillo song: Jerry Jeff Walker (with Gary P. Nunn, who actually does the singing, I think) on "Viva Terlingua"-- London Homesick Blues: the chorus is "I wanna go home with the armadillo....."
Well, I looked at the playlist for the early hour and saw you played London Homesick Blues. Boy, do I feel stupid. Never mind. : /
We could have an armadillo costume party.....
Have roll ups... play curl up hide and seek!
Maybe some folks who have Klingon gear could loan us some chain mail to wear.... and we can send some.... "chain mail".
I grew up on the east coast, and the host, Bob McAllister, of super kiddy show called "Wonderama" had a song called "Aardvark" .
we could adjust the words..
Does anybody here have an aardvark?
Does anybody here have an aardvark?
Everyone here has a right and left ear.
But nobody here has an aardvark.....
Wonderful poem, Dale! I've read it aloud twice now, over the phone. It's worthy of memorization. And the cadence is very Minnesotan, yah sure.
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