Nowhere in Arkansas is far from an armadillo report: 66 of 75 counties have at least one. The densest clusters sit in the northwest, in Washington and Benton counties, and along the Buffalo National River and Ozark National Forest, where wooded hollows and limestone country offer easy digging. Some of that weighting is observer effort, since the northwest also holds many of the state’s most active reporters.
October stands out on the calendar with 130 reports, the crest of a long rise that runs from August into late fall. A good share of autumn records are animals seen on roads, because armadillos range widely in the warm months and cross pavement as they go.
Arkansas gives the species secure, native-status ground, and its Ozark and Ouachita forests supply the loose soils and mild winters armadillos need near the northern edge of their comfort zone.
