As an outdoor photographer I observe animals being themselves in hopes of acquiring something more interesting than the usual pose when they turn and look at you. Oftentimes, they are moving so quickly it is difficult to focus and frame the shot before they are out of range. Such was the case at a local farm pond where I was sitting and waiting on something to fly or wander into view. I had a particular bird that I was watching but it always perched just a bit too far away for my 100-400 mm lens. Just as I was gathering up to leave the area my husband, Bobby, pointed out an armadillo that was approaching the pond to drink. "Great, I don’t have an armadillo picture!" People have asked me if I have a photo of them but most of my armadillo sightings have been limited to the old beer commercials or as road kill.

So, I approached and watched him use his tongue like a straw to suck up water. He made a loud slurping sound which is exactly the manners I would expect from such a creature. He must have really been thirsty because it seemed as if he drank several minutes. My usual statement to an animal after I have taken several shots is, "do something interesting for me," and he did just that right on queue. To my surprise, he jumped into the water and began swimming across the pond leaving a wake behind him before surfacing to breathe and dog paddle the remainder of the way. Bobby and I were both amazed at what we had just witnessed and laughed about how on earth could he swim like that.

My thought would be to compare his feat to that of the bumblebee which aerodynamically should not be able to fly. However, this theory has been disproved by a physicist at Cornell University who explained, "The old bumblebee myth simply reflected our poor understanding of unsteady viscous fluid dynamics." Sounds like something I don’t understand but I know they can fly.

An armadillo is heavy, armor plated, short legged, with no fur for buoyancy, and a spiny tail. With these physical ...

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