I saw a picture of an armadillo with longhorns somewhere on Facebook today.
Spikehorn Armadillos – Google Docs
Spikehorn Armadillos
When the nuclear tests of the 1950s produced giant ants, it also promptly produced creatures that could eat the giant ants. Well, not the giant ants the size of buildings. No, the smaller giant ants; the ones that are just the size of humans. That’s what Spikehorn Armadillos eat. And other giant bugs.
The Spikehorn Armadillo looks like… a giant armadillo with horns like a longhorn, actually. It’s about size of a horse, which means that’s it’s large enough to carry a man and some gear. This particular species can jump up about ten feet when fully loaded down, and about twenty normally, which makes them a bit of a handful to ride; but in Texas, that’s considered to just be an entertaining challenge. Spikehorn Armadillos are generally friendly enough mounts, and their increased size has also made them no longer susceptible to leprosy, so ranchers have been increasingly using the critters for their cattle drives.
And that’s particularly because of the giant ant problem. Giant ants will go after a cattle herd like nobody’s business. Fortunately, a quartet of Spikehorn Armadillos can go through a human-sized giant ant colony like nobody’s business, too. They use the horns to make the holes large enough to get the rest of them through. And to crack giant ant carapaces, too. And, sometimes, to get themselves up and out of gullies and pits.
As I said: a bit of a handful to ride.