A nine-banded armadillo. Authorities in Cass County, Texas, say a wounded man told deputies he suffered a head injury when his own bullet bounced off an armadillo's back. Photo by Arto Hakola/Shutterstock

LINDEN, Texas, July 31 (UPI) -- Authorities in Texas said a wounded man told them his bullet bounced off the animal's armored hide and hit him in the head.

The Cass County Sheriff's Office said the man told deputies he was shooting at an armadillo just before 3 a.m. Thursday when his bullet ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the head.


The incident is being investigated as a possible accidental shooting, deputies said. The fate of the armadillo was unclear.

The shooting was reminiscent of an April incident in Lee County, Ga., where Larry McElroy shot his 9 mm pistol at an armadillo and the bullet bounced off the creature and wounded his mother-in-law.

The armadillo in the Georgia incident was killed by the bullet.