Armadillos spend most of the day underground in self-dug burrows, sleeping or resting until dusk. The nine-banded armadillo, the only species found in the United States, is primarily nocturnal and can sleep up to 16 hours in a single day. Once the sun sets, they emerge to forage for insects, grubs, and other invertebrates in the soil.
Inside an Armadillo Burrow
An armadillo’s daytime hideout is a tunnel it excavates itself using powerful front claws. Burrow entrances are typically 8 to 10 inches across, and the tunnels range from 2 to 24 feet long, with most averaging 3 to 4 feet. The entrances tend to slope downward at about 33 degrees, and armadillos favor specific spots for digging: the base of a fallen tree, areas with exposed tree roots, or the side of a slope or embankment. Sandy or loose soil makes digging easier, and you’ll often find burrow openings in these types of terrain.
What makes armadillos unusual is how many burrows a single animal maintains. Rather than relying on one home base, each armadillo keeps roughly 5 to 10 burrows scattered across its territory, with some studies documenting an average of nearly 11 per individual. They rotate between these shelters, which may help them avoid predators, stay close to fresh foraging areas, or simply have a backup if another animal claims one of their tunnels.
When Armadillos Break the Pattern
The nocturnal rule has a notable exception: winter. Armadillos cannot hibernate. They don’t store food or build up significant body fat reserves, so they must forage regularly regardless of the season. During colder months, nighttime temperatures can drop low enough to make foraging dangerous for an animal with very little body insulation. To compensate, armadillos shift their activity to the warmer parts of the day, making daytime sightings much more common from late fall through early spring.
They can stay holed up in a burrow for several days if conditions are harsh, but eventually hunger drives them out. If you spot an armadillo wandering your yard in broad daylight during winter, that’s normal seasonal behavior, not a sign the animal is sick or disoriented. In summer, though, daytime activity is rare, and most foraging happens after dark.
Why Staying Underground Matters
Armadillos are not fast, and their eyesight is poor. Their armored shell provides some protection, but staying underground during daylight hours keeps them out of reach of coyotes, bobcats, dogs, and birds of prey that are most active during the day. Burrows also offer stable temperatures, which is critical for an animal that struggles to regulate its own body heat. Their low metabolic rate and thin skin make them vulnerable to both extreme cold and direct sun exposure, so a cool, insulated tunnel is an ideal place to wait out the hottest or coldest hours.
Where to Find Burrow Entrances
If you’re trying to locate where an armadillo is spending its days on your property, look for round holes roughly the size of a dinner plate along fence lines, under sheds or decks, near the roots of large trees, or on sloped ground. Disturbed soil and leaf litter pushed outward from the entrance, sometimes called an “apron,” is a telltale sign of an active burrow. Because armadillos maintain multiple burrows, finding one hole likely means there are several more within a few hundred yards.
Preferred digging sites tend to share a few features: loose or sandy soil that’s easy to excavate, some overhead cover from vegetation or structures, and proximity to moist ground where insects and grubs are plentiful. Armadillos in the southeastern U.S. are especially drawn to the sandy soils common in that region.
Other Animals Use These Burrows Too
Armadillo burrows don’t sit empty when the armadillo is out foraging. Research using trail cameras at burrow entrances in Arkansas documented a remarkable range of wildlife moving in and out, including raccoons, opossums, skunks, gray and red foxes, bobcats, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, woodrats, mice, and several species of snakes and lizards. Most of these animals use the burrows temporarily for shelter without modifying them.
Some species go further. Groundhogs and red foxes have been observed taking over armadillo burrows entirely, widening and reshaping them for long-term use. Armadillos were later seen using burrows that groundhogs had modified, but once a red fox claimed a tunnel, the armadillo never returned to it. Opossums, interestingly, appeared to teach their young to use armadillo burrows, with adults and juveniles observed entering together in what researchers interpreted as learned behavior.
This makes armadillos what ecologists call “ecosystem engineers.” Their digging creates shelter infrastructure that dozens of other species depend on, similar to the role gopher tortoises play in Florida or prairie dogs play in the Great Plains. A single armadillo maintaining 10 or more burrows across its territory creates a network of ready-made refuges for the broader wildlife community.