AUSTWELL, Texas — The heat is getting to all of us. Even the Lone Star State's official small mammal.
Texas Parks and Wildlife posted a video on its Instagram account of an armadillo frolicking at a beach
in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
The caption also gave us a little-known fun fact, saying that armadillos are decent swimmers and can hold their breath for up to six minutes.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the nine-banded armadillo has an interesting method for crossing water, because its heavy shell causes it to sink. When faced with narrow streams or water-filled ditches, the armadillo will simply walk across the bottom, underwater.
In wider water bodies, armadillos swallow air to inflate their stomachs to twice their normal size, increasing buoyancy and allowing them to swim across, according to TPWD. Afterward, it takes them hours to release the excess air.
TPWD also noted that because armadillos have almost no hair to help regulate their body temperature, they forage for food in summer evenings and on warm winter afternoons.
We're guessing this has made the record-high temps this summer even more unbearable.