A drowned armadillo a day out of time

Went to the Woods this afternoon. 80 F February 15. It was a little bizarre how odd the day felt. I walked in via the NE Gate and the Tree Loop, crossed the Wash and wandered west along the trails.
At 4 the wind was still and the sky overcast. The warmth had odd insects out flying, a Polistes wasp, a heavy tachinid fly, a noctuid moth. None of these should have been awake- not until late March or April or May.
When I came to the East Pond I noticed the bubbles of methane production on the surface and then saw an odd sight. There at the shoreline, was a recently drowned armadillo. Armadillos are known to carry rabies (rare). Rabies causes insatiable thirst. Was the armadillo sick when it drowned? I pulled it from the water with sticks and buried it beneath a tree so other vertebrates would not get to it and potentially become sick.
The warmth of the day had broken the buds of an Elaeagnus autumn olive. They were just showing the bright green bits of the opening leaf buds. The Woods were very dry but ponds were more than two feet deep. All across the Woods, armadillos (also maybe skunks?) had bulldozed through leaf litter looking for invertebrates, snails, millipedes, beetles, isopods etc.
I saw two large white-tailed deer in the central Woods but was not close to them. Interesting how well their coat color blends with the overall color of the Woods. Tonight wintry winds are returning.