East Texas man hospitalized after bullet ricochets off armadillo

[KansDem]

An East Texas man was hospitalized after he fired a gun at an armadillo – and the bullet ricocheted back at his head, reported Tyler’s KLTV 7. He was treated for minor injuries.

The incident occurred in the town of Marietta right before 3 a.m. Thursday, and Cass County Sheriff’s officials are investigating the shooting. The man told authorities he felt compelled to shoot at the armadillo after seeing it on the highway.

beaumontenterprise.com

[AllFieldsRequired]

1. Good

[Faux pas]

2. Karma

can be a funny thing.

[Nay]

27. If karma was as swift as this every time, a lot of people would actually

get smarter!

Or maybe not. Still, this is my laugh of the day.

[Faux pas]

30. You're right about the

swift karma thing. It is my laugh of the day too.

[yellowcanine]

3. Ricocheted off the armadillo or off of the road?

The latter seems more likely.

[Gman]

7. Very possible off the armadillo

Their shell is very tough.

[yellowcanine]

14. Understood. But to ricochet nearly straight back is quite unusual.

I can see a bullet hitting an armadillo at an angle of 45 degrees and ricocheting off. But to bounce nearly straight back the angle would need to be closer to 90 degrees. Their shells are hard but not that hard. At near 90 degrees it is going to penetrate the little bugger.

[Mojorabbit]

44. The shell is like leather and should not have deflected a bullet.

I have raised a lot of orphaned armadillos and tended to injured adults. They are as smart as dogs imo and have a lovely disposition.

[irisblue]

47. cute little face

[NV Whino]

4. Seems to me this happened once before.

[KansDem]

10. Yeah, in Georgia, last April...

This is the second case of an armadillo-shooting backfiring this year. In April, a Georgia man fired on an armadillo and the bullet deflected back into his mother-in-law.

After hitting the mammal’s hard shell, the bullet passed through a fence and through the back door of the mother’s mobile home. The shot hit the 74-year-old woman while she sat in a recliner, the man told sheriff's deputies. She faced non-life-threatening injuries. The armadillo did not survive the blast, but still managed to teach a good lesson on why you shouldn’t shoot the armored animal.

[NV Whino]

13. Yes, this is the one I was thinking of.

Damn, what part of armor don't they understand?

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Have to say, I'm surprised the bullet wouldn't pierce the armor

That is one hard shell!

(Well, two in this thread)

[johnp3907]

5. Doesn't say whether the armadillo survived.

[niyad]

6. too bad the bullet didn't hit anything important.

[love_katz]

16. Bwhahahahahaha!

Snort.

[Politicalboi]

8. I wonder if it was injured on the highway

The story doesn't say much other than you shouldn't shoot an armored animal. If he just shot it for fun, he got what he deserved IMO.

[world wide wally]

9. Another casualty in the War on Jade Helm?

[niyad]

19. well, that armadillo was, in all likelihood, a secret agent!

[Texasgal]

11. HAHAHAHAHA!

Dumbass!

[question everything]

12. More about it

http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2015/07/31/east-texas-man-shot-after-bullet-ricochets-off-armadillo

I read this headline and thought it might be from The Onion or a segment of a “MythBusters” episode:

Cass County official: Man injured after bullet ricochets off armadillo

Nope, just some news from small town northeast Texas.

A local hospital reportedly treated the man for minor injuries. No word on the armadillo’s condition.

Toss in the fact that armadillos are responsible for several recent cases of leprosy in Florida, and what further evidence do you need to know that armadillos are not to be messed with?

Leave them alone. Do not shoot them, do not eat them, do not hit them with your car if you can help it. They are simple and majestic beasts. Let them eat grubs and migrate north in peace.

[LondonReign2]

17. The problem here is the ineffectiveness of NARA

If the National Armadillo Rifle Association had been doing a better job promoting armed armadillos the poor thing could have stood his ground. Only good, armed armadillos can stop bad, armed humans.

[sarisataka]

28. Maybe the armadillo was armed

did anyone compare the bullet to the human's gun?

[Fred Sanders]

48. Obviously all animals being shot at with guns also need to have guns, crys NARA. Because every problem can be solved with more guns.

[kwolf68]

18. Darwin calls

We have today's winner

[exboyfil]

20. The original kevlar

[COLGATE4]

21. Armadillo 1 - Idiot 0 nt

[Aristus]

22. It's not nice to fuck with Mother Nature, dickbag!

Enjoy your ballistic head wound there, creep...

[Nictuku]

23. He might contract Leprosy....

http://www.wuft.org/news/2015/07/30/armadillos-may-be-cause-for-rising-leprosy-rates-in-florida/

One can hope

[Aristus]

24. Not very likely, though.

Despite its fearsome reputation, the transmissibility of leprosy is actually very low. I think bullet fragments in the head, and wounded pride are enough for now. I'm hoping he learned a lesson from this and will exert appropriate effort into becoming a better human being.

[Igel]

31. Yeah. He'll learn an important lesson from this.

Next time he'll use poison.

[Hekate]

25. Oh dearie dearie me. I hope the armadillo is recovering well.

[Scurrilous]

26. Your move Florida.

[Go Vols]

36. lol

[msanthrope]

41. Pennsylvania man is always the sleeper win.....nt

[RandySF]

29. Karma/Nature 1 - 0 Idiot

[Scootaloo]

32. Turns out that just because edentates lack teeth doesn't make them toothless.

...Little zoologist humor there.. .i'll.. i'll just be going somewhere now...

[olddots]

33. support your right to arm armadillos !

[Snobblevitch]

34. If the guy was close enough to be hit with

bullet fragments, he was close enough for the bulket to penetrate the armadillo. I would need to see the trajectory to believe this guy's story. (I don't believe the guy in Georgia either.)

[Mojorabbit]

46. I don't believe it either. nt

[Gothmog]

35. It is tough living in Texas at times

[Major Nikon]

39. If yer gonna be dumb you gotta be tough

[kwolf68]

40. You need to check out the Jackass video of this...

even funnier

[Major Nikon]

42. Roger Alan Wade is Johnny Knoxville's cousin

[LeftishBrit]

37. Wow. Just because something is there, doesn't OBLIGE one to shoot at it!

Hope he learns a lesson from that experience; but I doubt that he is very good at learning.

[Major Nikon]

43. In rural Texas they shoot at everying

Many, if not most, roadsigns and mailboxes are all shot to hell.

[Fred Sanders]

49. What else are the gun lovers of America going to do with 320 million guns rusting in sock drawers?

[Major Nikon]

52. Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding

-- Abraham Kaplan

[haele]

38. Armadillo shells are made of kerotin, like your fingernails

The shells aren't hard enough to protect against bullets - maybe a bee-bee gun it might bounce off, but Laz (my husband) shot an seriously injured armadillo when he was a kid with a 22 - and from a distance at that, because one never should go close to an injured wild animal if one doesn't know how to handle them - and nothing ricocheted off the shell.

Suspect that alcohol and perhaps a large rock assumed to be an armadillo played a big part in this story.

Haele

[Fred Sanders]

50. Yes. Bullets, high velocity metal projectiles, ricocheting off organic material? Please......

Gullibility is just one exceptional trait of American media consumers.

Note how the armadillo shooter is reported to have been "compelled" to shoot the creature....because reasons....

Call me a skeptic but I get a feeling but is have a felling the gunner is not being entirely truthful.

[LiberalElite]

45. I was going to reply to this OP but

all the good responses were sent already!

[Liberal_in_LA]

51. I hope Jaramillo is ok