Armadillo defense mechanism

Although we tend to think of armadillos as heavily armored creatures, protected by an almost turtle-like shell, in most species the shell offers no real protection against large predators, and the armadillos will rather bury themselves into the ground to escape danger. The South American Three Banded Armadillo is the only one that can roll into a perfect ball; this is accomplished thanks to its loosely jointed armor which allows for a greater range of movement, and to its armored head and tail which interlock when the animal rolls into a ball, thus making it completely invulnerable to most enemies.

This animal has also been known to shut closed at the last moment, making a snapping sound to startle its enemies as a clever additional defensive trick. Since it’s so well protected, the Three Banded Armadillo doesn’t need to be a good digger and will use the burrows of other animals instead of digging its own