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Flying Armadillo, Southern U.S., 1982

"Jack-in-the-box lift-off vaults an alarmed armadillo three feet [about one meter] into the air. The fright reflex is often fatal when the ancient mammal meets its worst modern enemy—the car—and springs against the moving chassis. But the decline of natural predators, such as wildcats and wolves, has helped the South American native make a remarkable leap in range and population across the southern United States."

—From "The Astonishing Armadillo," June 1982, National Geographic magazine

Photograph by Bianca Lavies