5 Tracking and trailing

Chapter Five TRACKING AND TRAILING They searched through the undergrowth for the mother armadillo, peering under clumps of ferns and around bushes. "I wonder how the babies lost their mother," Gustavo said, lifting a fern to check underneath. "Maybe something scared them and they ran away," Leah guessed.

"I bet it was the poachers," said Gustavo grimly. "Hey! Do you think the mother armadillo can tell her babies apart? They all look exactly the same to me!" Leah said, "Actually, they are exactly the same. Right down to their genes." Gustavo stared. "Like identical twins?" "Bingo!" said Leah. "Armadillos almost always have four identical babies. They're the only mammal that does." After a while, Gustavo called Leah over to see a little tunnel dug into the earth. It was about eight inches wide. "That's got to be the armadillo burrow," she said. "Hopefully, the mother is still inside! We need to figure out a way to lead her to the babies."

"Maybe we could make a trail of fruit?" Gustavo suggested. "Great idea," said Leah, "except armadillos are mostly insectivores. That means they eat insects—just like Venus flytraps!" Leah directed Gustavo to look for rotten branches on the ground. Those were much more likely to have insects and grubs living inside them. Gustavo almost tripped over a whole rotten tree trunk covered in moss and vines. Leah peeled back a length of its spongy bark to reveal hundreds of scuttling bugs underneath.

Gustavo immediately scooped them up in his cupped hands. Leah could tell he didn't like it very much, but he was putting up with it for the armadillos' sake. She held out her own hands and he tipped some of the creepy-crawlies into them.

Soon they had made a bug trail between the baby armadillos and the burrow. They hid behind some bushes to watch and wait, keeping very still and making as little noise as possible. Gustavo suddenly frowned. "Leah, did you walk over that way at all?" He pointed at a patch of crushed vegetation. "No, why?" Leah asked. "Could it be an armadillo trail?" Gustavo wondered. "Maybe we've got it wrong, and the mother went off in that direction."

Leah shook her head. "It's too big for an armadillo," she said. "It's all trampled down, like a person ran through it…" She gasped. "Gustavo, I think you've found evidence the poachers came this—oh, look!" A fully grown armadillo was nosing her way out of the burrow. Leah and Gustavo grinned at each other. It was the mother! But would she notice the bug trail? The mother armadillo sniffed all around her—and gobbled up one of the bugs. "It's working!" Gustavo whispered. "I hope she finds her babies soon," Leah whispered back. "We've got a trail of our own to follow!"