Need Armadillo advice..........

After noticing extensive digging throughout our garden beds, we were told we have a "Dillo" on our premises. Since we didn't wish to kill it, we contacted a company to trap and release it......hopefully far, far away.

The company guy came out and set the trap right outside the burrow hole. Then he baited it with dry cat food and apple pieces. So of course, the first night we caught a........cat. I asked him why didn't he bait it with worms or grubs that Armadillos eat, and he said the worms die in the heat.

So the second night, he left off the cat food and just baited with the apple pieces. And we caught two little raccoons.

Here's my questions..........Should we relo the raccoons, or just set free? And does the company sound like it knows what it is doing?

If we continue to use them, they will charge us more money, and we've already paid them several hundred dollars.

I need opinions from you because we only moved here 3 and 1/2 years ago and this is all new to us. We have an acre and a half of Hill Country property, next to other residential and also some large empty lots.

This is the burrow we found.

Thanks everyone.

I didn't know armadillos burrowed....my first guess would have been a prairie dog...

"eyes"

One of our neighbors took one look at all the digging around the yard and told us it was an Armadillo. I have not seen it as yet.....so couldn't swear to it.

It does appear to just root around all the flower beds making a giant mess of all our mulch. What does a "prairie dog" do?

morganc, It's an armadillo hole. One of the perks of living out in the country is you get to see the wildlife up close. We live on a cattle ranch. Our house is in the middle of one of the pastures. So I get to see all kinds. Problems come up every so often, but they are usually temporary except for the coyotes. They come close to the house even with our Australian Shepard around. If you are determined to get rid of the armadillo, it would be cheaper to buy a live animal trap. They are easy to set up and use. The problem is that whatever bait you put out will also catch other animals, as you have found out so it's going to take some patience. The mulch probably looks like soft soil to the armadillo. Perhaps you can place some netting or wire mesh over the mulched areas until the armadillo gives up or you catch it.

If the racoons are very small they could still be dependent upon their mother and may not survive alone. I would let them go. I doubt that you have a prairie dog. There would be a "town" somewhere nearby and it's hard to imagine a prairie trying to dig through all that limestone found in the Hill
Country.

This link is about trapping armadillos.
http://ufinsect.ifas.ufl.edu/armadillo.htm
Around here, they dig in a fairly shallow fashion out on my property...not deep...you're right...caliche and limestone isn't easy to dig in. Raised beds and deeply amended moist garden beds are easier, however. Piles of mulch are attractive to them because of the insects, earthworms and grubs that take refuge in them, I think.


This message was edited Jul 23, 2008 1:30 PM

Armadillos are ominvores but mainly forage on ants, termites, invertebrates. They will eat some plants and native fruits,...so there may be somethin' to the apple as bait. Was the cat food moist or dry?
I've read that you can feed a young "pup" moist catfood ....so the catfood as bait is not surprising.
They usually will come out to forage at night or early morn,when it's quiet....but I've seen them out during the day,...usually when it's overcast.
I've heard of a method of " guiding" one into a live animal trap using a "weir" type design (as fish have been trapped) cone shaped

i.e.- a fence on each side of the hole...that funnels the 'dillo into the entrance of the trap. Of course,...you'd want to prevent the dillo from being able to get around either side/end of each fence (up near the hole)
so, if you're able,...cap the "cone" with a 3rd fence or wall - behind the hole. The dillo will eventually try to find an easy way out/around the "fence"and exit into the trap.
You could also try to catch it outside the hole and catch it by hand or with a landing net.....grab the tail and lift off the ground...keeping it away from your body,...since its nails are designed for quick digging and well developed...it can scratch you trying to get away. They're not aggressive.....they try to escape...sometimes they'll leap straight up,...(if you try to grab the body)....usually they race off....crashing through brush or weeds trying to get away. Their eyesight is poor but their hearing and sense of smell is very good. If you try to stalk one,
be as quiet as possible...moving towards the dillo only when it is rustling around...and stopping when it stops to listen. Sometimes one will rear up on its haunches and sniff the air if it suspects it is being stalked. They're really a fascinating critter and funny in some ways.
Interesting facts:
they can both swim on the surface of a body of water or,...walk beneath the surface of water (along the bottom) to cross a creek...breathing air trapped in the hair of their belly........underneath their "shell"

When a female has a litter of babies,...they're all the same sex
either m or f ( they all come from the same egg)

They can contract leprosy (don't panic....they CAN contract leprosy...but that doesn't mean there's a bunch of armadillos
running around spreading it. I remember reading that if one eats the
UNDERCOOKED meat of a dillo....you CAN get leprosy. Handling one is not considered dangerous)

Good luck on relocating the dillo!

BTW - I've eaten armadillo in the past....they're delicious...but I won't eat one anymore since they're a threatened species

This message was edited Jul 23, 2008 1:43 PM

My neighbor came over with heavy duty gloves and we released the little Raccoons. This pic was taken first thing this morning, so is still a little dark......aren't they cute?

I found ANOTHER burrow........seems he didn't like the raccoons so close to his old home. So I'm going to try the "funnel" advice.

Will let everyone know how it comes out. Texas sure is interesting!!!!!

http://www.pestproducts.com/armadillo.htm.....maybe your answer is here...good luck...know I learned something new today.

"eyes"

I agree with WillisTexasGarden. You don't need to even bait the trap, just funnel the armadillo into the trap. We have a live animal trap that we used to relocate a family of very destructive raccoons. We loaned it to our neighbors and they caught 5 armadillos by setting the trap along a raised bed next to the burrow. I don't think that the poor critters see very well and they just followed the edge of the bed right into the trap.

Our greatest fear of using the trap is that we would capture a skunk!

eyes-----the trap we are using is in the link you sent, thanks, it's good to know the trap is OK.......now if the Armadillo would just cooperate.

LOL.......good luck with that one...know any hypnotists??

"eyes"

Those raccoons look guilty!!! Cute...too. We get lots of dillos that root around the yard. Haven't seen a burrow yet but I think they made their home under Dad's work shop since it was built off the ground and sits on blocks.

Here's a photo of some baby dillos. Rooting around as usual.

~ Cat

Kewl pic...cat.

"eyes"

I have never seen a live Dillo, they look so......prehistoric!

Your pic, Cat, looks to be taken in the daytime....I thought they only came out at night?

MorganC - the photo was taken around at 2:30pm on a Sunday afternoon. We've seen adults out in daylight but never the little ones. Am thinking perhaps the momma was roadkill or something happened to her and these little ones were fending for themselves.

~ Cat

OMG........I hope there is only one!

I've caught a skunk before in a live trap (unintentional). I quietly approached the trap and spread a doubled cloth sheet over it....gently lifted the covered trap and carried it to and placed it in the back of my truck.....drove it to a secluded area and released it after reversing the same procedures (all slowly & gently) When I opened the trap... the skunk slowly ambled out of the trap and left without any "incident of the worst kind"

Our funnel trap will be infront of his new burrow hole........with no food for bait......so.......cross your fingers.....I only expect the Armadillo!!!!

WillisTexas, you are a brave person!! I'll file that bit of information back in my brain in case we ever need it. However, I think I would just cover the trap and gently open the door rather than moving the trap. I'm not as brave as you.

You possibly live in an area that will always have some critters. You trap 'em and they will just be replaced - if not soon, then probably next season.

You could try to to use one or more of the motion-sensing spray heads to scare stuff away from the garden/sensitive areas.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Contech-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated-Water-Sprinkler-NEW_W0QQitemZ190238158337QQihZ009QQcategoryZ20542QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

We have one of those for the vegetable garden. Only works sometimes........sometimes the critters actually LIKE the spray of water. We would need far too many of them to be practical.

We like most of the wild critters even when they eat out stuff........but this guy is becoming destructive to the plants and the pool foundation.

We resort to trapping and relocating only as a last resort also. We have a den of fox in our woods, a family of bobcats nearby, swamp rabbits bigger than a small dog as well as multiple squirrels, possums, raccoons and snakes. We even built a large cage around the tomato beds so that we could enjoy the critters and also have a few tomatoes. The raccoons we relocated were ripping siding and shingles off of our house to get into our attic. The 5 armadillos that were relocated were digging up entire flower beds every night. We enjoy watching the critters passing through, but vandals are not welcomed here.

trapping plus the use of fencing (part of which should be buried) or a dog or 'other' 'passive' deterrents might work???

Carl

I'm a strong believer in fencing. My fence can keep deer and dogs out, among other animals. BUT...that being said, my fence doesn't keep out coons or possums and only discourages the armadillos a little bit. But it's definitely worth it to build a fence.

We have a fence......mostly just keeps out the deer. Raccoons, Opossum, cats, fox, squirrels, etc., all get through. Have never seen any skunk........for that matter no coyotes either. We have mostly passive critters (except for the fox) who just get hungry.

We don't wish to hurt the Armadillo.....just relo him to a different county.

I've a good friend who grows an open garden on the shoreline of Lake Conroe near Montgomery. Grows cantalopes, peaches, plums, corn,
tomatoes etc.
Keeps out the vandals (4 legged kind) with an electric fence about 9"
above the ground around everything....the kind that you use to keep horses, cattle,etc. away from or kept within any area.
The raccoons LOVED his cantalopes as well as other things,...as did the o'possums...but after he installed the fence....and they touched it for the 1st time,.........they all gave his yard a wide berth...worked good for him!

jonsmom -

would I be out-a-line..... to maybe.... lay my claim to...
"Skunk Whisperer"?

We have 4 dogs that look embarrassed when covered in tomato sauce

so moving the skunk must be the primary option....in order to keep it alive :)

OK, Willis, aka Skunk Whisperer. No more talk about skunks! I haven't seen one on this property in at least 5 years . . . . and tonight a young one strolled casually across our back deck around dusk. I told my husband about your method of relocating them and he said he was not volunteering to hold the sheet! : ) I like that electric fence idea for the cantaloupe.

Good luck with the armadillo Morganc. Our neighbor has been after one for the last week and he keeps evading the trap. I'm hoping she catches him soon since I'll be the one to replant everything he dislodges from the flower beds while they are on vacation. I did that once for ten days straight while he plowed through the mulch in every bed in her yard and uprooted plants in all the beds. By day 3 I was ready to shoot him! But I didn't. : )

Well, so far I'm not sure I would recommend this service to anyone.

Our Dillo is still at large!

Here in east Texas I have lots of critters. The most distructive is the armadillo. Each year I get 1 or 2 that dig up lots of plants. I have caught several of them using the live trap. If you find their favorite dig spot, cover it back up for a day or so and see that they return, that is where I place my trap. They have a good sence of smell so I just leave the trap there for week or so or until he finally wonders in it. Tried the V shaped wedge but without any luck. Seems like they really like to dig the wild violets. Caught one in that area. They are a problem but if you do not get them they will ruin many beds in a short time.
Good luck, mine are worse in the spring. I have caught coons and possums too. No skunks thank goodness.

Willis, forget the tomato sauce for removing skunk spray. Try mixing one box of baking soda, one quart of hydrogen peroxide, and a couple of teaspoons of any liquid soap together. Wet the dog and then pour the mixture over the dog, rubbing it into the skin to remove the oils from the spray. Rinse the dog thoroughly. It works great.

I found an armadillo digging a hole in my mother's flower bed when I was a teenager. I tried to pull it out by the tail. Couldn't budge it an inch.

morganc, good luck with your armadillo problem. I believe you'll have an ongoing aggravation with armadillos, even if you catch this one. I think they dig in flower beds and gardens because the digging is easier, and if you live in an area with armadillos, they'll always come by to visit you.

Bite your tongue, Birddog!

Now wouldn't it be great if you could train that armadillo to till your soil and dig where you wanted to plant bulbs? :o)

~ Cat

That would be against the sacred code that all wild animals...and most pets are sworn to uphold. It says that all digging or rooting in a yard will be as destructive as possible and preferably destroy the precious plants that those silly humans plant. Extra points for destroying plants that were just purchased and planted the day before the digging or rooting occurs. Every time it's especially bad here, I look around to see if the animals are hiding in the bushes laughing at me. The neighborhood coon mom with the four babies just came by a little while ago and dropped two of her masked babies off. I think she thinks I run a coon daycare here, so when she gets tired of the tiresome brats that are whining at her, she just takes them here and while they're checking out the catfood bowls, she sneaks off for a quick nap. The babies are happy until the catfood my cats left in the bowls runs out. Then they notice mom has abandoned them and run off to look for her. Oh BTW, they're just ignoring the rule about them being nocturnal animals...at least, for this year. Oh, and here's a pic of one of the babies.

Linda...funny! I puppysat my nephew's jack russel terrier a while back and that dog must have written all those sacred codes!!! ROLF!!!

I know racoons are destructive but I still think they are sooooooooo cute! Having grown up on a ranch and since dad worked for the highway department we always had wild critters to care for. He'd find them in culverts and ditches when their mama had been killed by a car. We raised and released everything from deer, javalinas and racoons to an assortment of fowl and smaller critters like rabbits and ground squirrels. The trio of racoons were my favorite and I still have many fond memories of their antics. Am sure my mom thought they were the spawn of the devil at the time :o)

~ Cat

Thanks for the tip birddog!

You're so right about the armadillo being
practically impossible to extract once it gets its front half of its body
down in a hole - been there, tried that!

Cool pic, Linda!

Linda, your baby Raccoon is adorable.

Since Dillos like worms.......has anyone used the "Worm Poop" product to bait with?

Excuse me - this is my garden!

Well Kenefick----your Dillo looks downright friendly! Can they be trained??

My sister lives in the country and is overrun with Armadillo. She doesn't have to bait anything, just water the area where she wants them to dig! So if you locate the cage over a well watered area with dry ground and flower beds, maybe it would pay off. Baiting with cantelope peelings might work as well.