East Texas man hospitalized after bullet ricochets off armadillo

A Texas man who shot at an armadillo on the highway was hospitalized after the bullet deflected off the animal's shell and into his head. A Texas man who shot at an armadillo on the highway was hospitalized after the bullet deflected off the animal's shell and into his head. Photo: Kathy Adams Clark, Freelance Photo: Kathy Adams Clark, Freelance Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close East Texas man hospitalized after bullet ricochets off armadillo 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

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 around his property. Sheriff Larry Rowe told Reuters that the man, who was not identified, fired three times at the armadillo with a .38 revolver.

At least one shot bounced back off the animal and into the man's jaw. He was airlifted to a hospital and had his jaw wired shot, Reuters reported. The sheriff added that he doesn't know the status of the armadillo.

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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.