Getting rid of Armadillos

T

TXHookem

1,000+ Posts
Let me start by saying that I like armadillos... I think they're kind of cool and I don't necessarily have any problem with them. The main issue I have though is that there is a family of armadillos living underneath our foundation. I'm 99% sure I originally had one armadillo but now there are a few. Lately, I've seen the four little armadillos running around looking for food.

So... what do I do? I've tried sprinkling moth ball flakes around the hole since I understand they have sensitive noses and will scram due to the smell. That didn't do a thing. I would prefer they leave but don't necessarily want to trap them or hurt them. Will they eventually leave?

Any suggestions?
 
It's ok to love them, jus stay away from them. There's no concrete evidence that says you'll catch it (that I know of) but they do carry leprosy. So it's a good idea to get them out, ASAfP.

Try the site Critter-Repellent.com and see the Predator Urine solutions. It's natureal from what I can tell and it worked at my folks' ranch.

side info: human and armadillo leprosy infections show similar environmental tendencies in their geographical distribution. some cases of human disease probably result from zoonotic transmission from armadillos, but the real risk for leprosy infection through contact with armadillos seems to be extremely low. most people in the U.S. still appear to acquire their disease mainly through contact with infected family members.
 
Dude, I know what you mean. But when our kids were young - I had one that would not go away because he loved to dig the hell outta my yard for the grubs. Problem was I couldn't get rid of the grubs and I didn't want him in the same area as the kids. Plugged him with a 22 rifle and shoveled him into a trash bag. Oh ... the blood thing. If you do go extreme, be sure to wash down their blood into the soil. Don't leave it.
 
I don't want to take the killing approach... besides, all I have are a 12 gauge and an SKS and both will leave more than a pool of blood.
 
Start putting out portions of Purina Armadillo Chow in your neighbor's yard across the street every night about midnight.
 
So...a friend of mine grew up in Trophy Club, and was home one summer from graduate school. His parents told him they had something tearing up their whole backyard. The grass was being torn to pieces. He decides to catch this thing. So he'd go out at night with a flashlight to see what was coming out, and it ended up being an armadillo.

Well, when he saw it, he froze as did the armadillo (probably from the light in his eyes ala deer). He thought for a second, then decided to run into the garage to get some to catch the armadillo. The only thing he could find in the 1.5 second window he had to find his whatever and return to the backyard to catch the armadillo was a dirt rake (not a leaf rake).

When he got back to the yard, the armadillo had run into some shrubs. My friend poked into the shrubs and got the armadillo to run out into the open, but it made a dash for a hole in the fence, barely making it through in time. My friend went out the gate and around the fence to the hole and started chasing the armadillo down the street/sidewalk. He actually passed the animal (who must have been tired running this much-why didn't it roll up into a ball!) and blocked its path trying to corral the thing. Well, the armadillo was not stopping; it just kept on barreling down the sidewalk at my friend. The guy, not knowing really what to do, "punts" (his word) the animal in the nose. The armadillo flies backwards 15-20 feet and lands dazed and, I'm sure, smarting. As my friend crouches up to it, the armadillo starts to waddle out in the street (across the street was openn land), so my friend did the next thing he could think of to catch the beast, he impaled it on its back with the steel rake (remember this from the garage). It's now screaming it's armadillo screams, which is unnerving to my friend. He lifts up the rake, and the armadillo lifts with it.

My friend is actually very kind, and is now going crazy at the thought of what he has just done. He realizes he needs to put the animal down quickly, so he runs with it (impaled on the rake) back to the garage. He dumps it into a big trash can and begins looking for something to end its life. He gets the gasoline can, and pours it in the trash to drown it in poison, but it's not enough liquid. It does however burn the he11 out of the armadillos wounds, eyes, maybe even lungs and stomach. Now the beast is shrieking out an ungodly call, imploring my friend, I'm sure, to end this torturous activity. Now my friend is frantic. He finds nothing else to use on this thing to put it out of its misery. He picks up the whole trash can and takes it into the backyard, and puts the hose in it to drown the animal. Well...the animal floats, is screaming, sucking in water, and flailing about in this trash can. So (it comes full circle) my friend runs back into the garage (afraid the trash can will overflow itself spilling bloody, chemical water with a suffering varmant onto the back lawn) and gets the rake. He runs back into the backyard and plunges the rake and armadillo down to the bottom of the trash can until there is no more movement against the rake.

Completely spent, my friend stands there alone. This was his last night in town, and was up late packing the car (1AM-ish). He had succeeded at stopping the beast, but at what cost to his soul? He was tired, shaking, triumphant, ashamed, virile, but, especially and pointedly, no longer "suburban." He went in and showered, went to bed, wrote a letter to his father the next morning (6am-ish) asking him to dispose of the contents of the trash can in the backyard, and drove back to graduate school...for better or worse a new man.




Please, just call an exterminator.
 
TX...where was that bleeding heart about 12 years ago when you blew away that Blue Indigo while dove hunting with me...or was that Vega?
 
Bleeding heart? Crap... when I see snakes, I shoot first then ask questions. I don't have a problem with dillos, possums, racoons, etc. but if it slithers...

Besides, I didn't know what it was 'til you told me.

Was that the same weekend you were running through the brush taking pot shots at javelinas with your AR15?
 
I forgive you..I've become a lot softer in my old age. I still have nightmares about wiping out a family of racoons one time. Now, I let most critters live.
 
Just don't ever get them wet ... and the thing you must never forget....no matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg, never, never feed them after midnight!

Otherwise- try this recipe for Armadillo Pie- The Link
 
It's un-Texan to kill Armadillos, but there's nothing better than a bunch of jackrabbits and a ammo can full of 5.56.
 
i prefer to shoot grackles and pigeons with my pellet gun. only bad thing is the only birds i've seen out at my house lately are mockingbirds, woodpeckers and a roadrunner.
 
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