Armadillo tail handle

RedFury

RedFury

Joined
Jun 17, 2015
Messages
325
Found a few mentions of Armadillo tail on these forums and even a few photos. So how do you make an Armadillo tail handle? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know first you catch an Armadillo. LOL. I'm past that. There was an nice road kill right outside my farm gate last night. The tail is removed from the beast but I have no idea how to go from here. Got to get the meat out and then what has to happen to the shell? Anybody been there and done that?
 
Try and avoid getting leprosy.

The tail can be re-assembled after it is cleaned and thoroughly dried. Then it is imbedded in resin to make it solid. After that, it is used more or less like a stag taper handle.

The armadillo body plates are also used to make stabilized scales for knife handles. They are really cool. Google "armadillo knife scales".
 
Thank you Stacy. I'm stuck at square #1. How do I clean the tail? I'd like to to pull the meat out sort of like pulling the meat out of a lobster tail but that doesn't seem easy to do. Meanwhile it's getting nasty. Maybe I should go find a big active ant hill.
 
IIRC from my old Boy Scout days - Separate the segments, use a boning knife to run around the segment and remove the meat as well as you can. Set out under a box or pail for the bugs to clean up the rest. Dry well and scrape as needed to remove any tissue. A Dremel and a sanding drum work well for final clean up inside. Wire brush the outside with a brass brush.
 
So there are really just armadillos running around in Florida? That's wierd..and cool! That will be a neat project!
 
Last edited:
Just for those who don't know the link between armadillos and leprosy:

In Louisiana, there has been a Hansen's disease (leprosy) colony for a long time. Most Americans are not aware that it exists ( there is a leprosy colony island in Hawaii). At one time, all people who were diagnosed with the disease went there. The graves were many. They were simple graves with pine boxes (nor no boxes). The armadillos are really good diggers and tunnelers. They are also carrion eaters. They dug into the graves and ate on the bodies. At some point in time, the virus jumped species and the armadillos became susceptible to it. Today, a fair percentage of southeastern armadillos have the disease. It is particularly prevalent in Florida, where it has caused an increase in Hansen's disease. It may or may not be transferable to humans, but care should be taken in dressing an armadillo. Today, the dreaded disease is treatable and not as bad in the USA, but it still exists in its worst state in places like India and the third world.
 
Last edited:
Separate the segments. Now there is a key bit of info. Thank you Stacy. My own sniffing around has revealed that people do some interesting things with other parts of the armadillo shell and skin. He's pretty armored so the line between shell and skin is blurred.
 
The armadillo body plates are also used to make stabilized scales for knife handles.
Click to expand...

Well now you've done it Stacy. Previously I've had no reason to hunt down the little buggers.
 
all the more reason for me to start stabilizing. Who knew I could find handle material on the side of the road!
 
Google "Hansen's disease " then click images ...... I love the way the armadillo scales look but ......
 
The way i always understood it was that due to armadillo's abnormally low body temperature they make excellent hosts for the bacteria
 
Nic. said:
So there are really just armadillos running around in Florida? That's wierd..and cool! That will be a neat project!
Click to expand...

Back in the early 70s, my older sister lived in Edmonton and said if I saw one while deer hunting to kill it & send her the shell (we're from TX.). The locals up there thought she was lying when she described an armadillo.

Maybe the Burmese pythons roaming around Florida will eat them all.

Armadillos were known as "possum on the half shell" in East Texas, until the leprosy thing became common knowledge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top