Armadillos are small placental mammals that can be found throughout the Americas.

Unfortunately, most of the armadillo’s defenses are completely unsuitable for dealing with cars.

One of its strategies is to roll up into a protective ball completely surrounded by its armor, which can save it from a variety of natural things, but not an SUV.

Another response is to dig straight into the ground, which it can do with remarkable speed in almost any soil type, but not, unfortunately, blacktop.

Still another strategy is to leap straight up into the air, which doesn’t save the armadillo, but at least gives it the small victory of making a wicked dent in a car’s front grill.