Do armadillos destroy crops?
Farmers have blamed armadillos for ruining melon crops, among other things. Raccoons are probably the biggest culprits. Armadillos seem to suffer from the same problem that hyenas do their bad reputation appears to be a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When farmers come out in the mornings, the slow-moving armadillos are seen taking advantage of the raccoon’s leftovers, so they get the blame for ruining the crop. (Hyenas were long thought to be scavengers, because when naturalists observed them at dawn on the savanna, they were seen skulking around behind the lions feasting on a fresh kill. Thanks to night observations, we now know that the lions often steal a carcass that the hyenas actually hunted down and killed.
