ST. LOUIS – As temperatures increase and insects such as cicadas reign in the area, it may not be an uncommon sight to see an increase in armadillo sightings, especially along highways.

With the warmer weather, we see more insect activity, and with that, more armadillo activity as they search for insects as their primary food source, says Dan Zarlenga with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“Also, we are experiencing an abundance of insect resources right now with the 13-year periodical cicada emergence underway,” Zarlenga says.

St. Louis is coming out of a lighter winter, and the armadillo population may be higher as these shelled mammals survive better in milder temperatures.

Though the Missouri Department of Conservation does not make special efforts to track armadillos, Zarlenga says they have received observational reports of dead armadillo sightings along Interstate 44.

“Armadillos are not originally native to Missouri, and therefore have not been a species of focus for MDC,” Zarlenga says. “However, they are not colonizing on their own with time and are sort of becoming naturalized wildlife now.”

He also mentions that armadillo populations are trending upward and expanding more northward over time.

When encountering an armadillo, Zarlenga says it’s best to give it space and not try to harness or capture it, as with all wildlife.

Since armadillos have poor eyesight, they tend to jump straight up when startled.

“Unfortunately, this often puts them into a head-on collision with vehicle grills, which is why we tend to see so many dead ones on the side of the road,” Zarlenga says. “This instinctual behavior may benefit them against a predator in the wild, but not so much against a moving vehicle.”