KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Armadillos are continuing to make their way to East Tennessee.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said the animals are traveling from the western and southern parts of the state.
"They've been in Tennessee for about 30 years now," said Matt Cameron, the public information officer for TWRA Region 4. "Population seems to be expanding eastward and northward."
Cameron says armadillos are not a threat to humans, but they can be a threat to their lawns.
"There's an open hunting season, which is year-round, and no limit on them if people wanted to hunt the. Because they do a lot of damage to lawns and properties because they dig holes and make burrows underground — that's where they will sleep and where they will raise their young," said Cameron.
Armadillos eat insects, so they help manage bugs wherever they end up.
"They actually do a good thing in nature," said Cameron. "They help control bug populations, and I'm told that they eat fire ants. And so, we're seeing a lot of the fire and hills popping up around. So if they do one good thing, I'm told that they do eat fire ants. So hopefully they can help us control the fire ant population."
Zoo Knoxville has six-banded armadillos, which are native to South America. However, that isn't the kind found in the Tennessee wilderness. The kind that is found native to the state is the nine-banded armadillo.
The nine-banded armadillo cannot curl into a ball, it jumps in the air when it's scared.
"The bands referred to, they're sort of plates on their back, are sort of like elastic bands on expanding waistbands," said Sarah Glass, the curator of Red Pandas and Ambassador Animals at Zoo Knoxville. "The ones that are native to the U.S. are nine-banded."
Glass also said that armadillos are harmless, so people shouldn't feel threatened if they wander into their yards. However, she adds they can carry a disease that is transmissible to humans — leprosy.
"They don't really offer a threat to anybody," said Glass. "They've gotten a bad rap because armadillos are the only other species besides humans that can carry leprosy."
The CDC recommends people should steer clear of the animal, even though the risk of catching leprosy from an armadillo is low.