living in abandoned armadillo burrows. Occasionally, the armadillo may threaten the endangered gopher tortoise by aggressively displacing them from their burrows and claiming the burrows for themselves. Studies have shown the fan-tailed warbler habitually follows armadillos to feed on insects and other invertebrates displaced by them. They are typically hunted for their meat, which is said to taste like pork, but are more frequently killed as a result of their tendency to steal the eggs of poultry and game birds. This has caused certain populations of the nine-banded armadillo to become threatened, although the species as a whole is under no immediate threat. They are also valuable for use in medical research, as they are among the few mammals other than humans susceptible to leprosy. In Texas, nine-banded armadillos are raised to participate in armadillo racing, a small-scale, but well-established sport in which the animals scurry down a 40-foot track. Hoover hog During the Great Depression, the species was hunted for its meat in East Texas, where it was known as "poor man's pork", or the "Hoover hog" by those who considered President Herbert Hoover to be responsible for the Depression. Earlier, German settlers in Texas would often refer to the armadillo as Panzerschwein ("armored pig"). In 1995, the nine-banded armadillo was, with some resistance, made the state small mammal of Texas, where it is considered a pest and is often seen dead on the roadside. They first forayed into Texas across the Rio Grande from Mexico in the 19th century, eventually spreading across the southeast United States. References Further reading eNature entry Nixon, Joshua. Armadillo Expansion, September 14, 2006, retrieved December 3, 2006. Trapping the nine-banded armadillo External links View the nine-banded armadillo genome in Ensembl Armadillos Mammals of the Caribbean Mammals of the United States Mammals of Brazil Mammals of Central America Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Mexico Mammals of Paraguay Mammals of Peru Mammals of Suriname Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago Mammals of Uruguay Mammals of Venezuela Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Fauna of the Southeastern United States Least concern biota of North America Least concern biota of South America Mammals described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Symbols of Texas Articles containing video clips