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

That is what we have been doing...........except for the cantaloupe. The last time fruit was used we trapped Raccoons.

Might stick with worm poop.

The melon would draw raccoons too. Forgot about that.

Actually, I'm trying to 'train' them to stay away!
We spread a little milorganite occasionally, and it seems to work.

Morgan,

Dillos rarely live alone. We have them here too. I have seen as many as 5 together.

Why can't you pull them out of their holes...do they expand their shells underground??

"eyes"

Have you seen the claws on those buggers? They dig right in and most fast when they need to.

Nice pic Kene - do hope that's water on yer' boots and not dillo tinkles :o) Really cute the way that dillo looks up to you :o)

~ Cat

Mr. Dillo may not even know what those boots are attached to. They don't see well. If a person stays still and quiet, one might not even have a clue.

Milorganite makes them stay away........? Ew! I'd stay away too!

We're trying worm poop right now......let's see if that works before changing poops. :-)

I read last night that mothballs in the flowerbeds will keep armadillos away - - probably other critters too. I thought that was a good idea, but my DH said that mothballs will keep EVERYONE away. He can't stand the smell of mothballs. : )

His body might be trying to tell him something....like to never, ever use those! Just a small warning from a site I saw:

As stated previously, naphthalene does not break down in the environment; moth balls used outside wear away to seep right into the ground water. Since water treatment plants do not remove PBT's, the use of moth balls outside contributes to a poisoning of our drinking water. Furthermore, water used on farms and vegetable gardens may include PBT's.

Not only is naphthalene hazardous, it is one of the most unnecessary chemicals manufactured today. There isn't anything that naphthalene accomplishes that we cannot do without. What began as an effective way to kill moths has blossomed into a widely-used means of repelling other pests.

Wow, Linda! Thanks for that info. I've never used mothballs & it sounded like such a good and easy solution. I am glad I didn't. I told my DH that Dave's Garden is educational and that is so true. : )

I wonder if a local animal groomer could supply you with some dog or cat hair? Would sprinkling it around occasionally help?

Carl

I've got cats which supply plenty of cat hair. The only thing deterred to some minimal degree is what cats might catch...birds and mice, for example. Now, if I had some cougar hair.....maybe!

I have three cats.......can't see any of them going after an Armadillo.......or the Dillo caring much!

:-)

Maybe we'll just rent him out (once we catch him) for tilling the soil and fluffing mulch.

maybe you can spread some pieces of semi-truck tires around.

This message was edited Jul 30, 2008 10:38 PM

LOL.....well, if they're almost blind and deaf...it's no wonder they're so often road kill....

"eyes"

And they jump straight up into the air when they are startled, which puts them at exactly the right level to be hit by a vehicle.

BTW "eyes", where the heck is Toadsuck, TX? I have never heard of it.

I'm thinking about buying more traps for this guy to stumble into.

Hiya texas folks! I too have a dillo problem. I have caught one but still have more. I'm afraid to say that is the way it goes.

Google milky spore. That is what I'm thinking of doing. Milky spore is a disease that kills grubs and grubs are what those dillos are after! It is costly but it can last up to 20 years. Once a grub has come in contact with the milky spore and dies the disease is spread so the longer it is there the better it gets. As a bonus, grubs are the larvae of those pesky beetles that eat our plants. So you kill two birds with one stone (or get rid of two pests with one spore).

Here's a picture of the one we caught :)

I think we're going to need a bigger trap.

The trap was sprung last night......but no Dillo. Your trap, pieohmy, looks much larger than the one we have been using.

How did you catch it? Where did you put the trap?

from s tx north the armadillo roam. you wouldnt think cute as much for coon, possum, tree rat, dillo's if you were having to pay for the concret coffins dilloes can upheave out of the ground in cemetaries. If you knew that in the deep heat of the dry summers those varmints were spreading hookworms, rabies directly into the ground to lay in wait for your dogs, cats and barefoot kids, as these diseases like, anthrax (blackleg), tetanus (lockjaw), can lie dormant in the ground for untold years to come. Salting the woods with vaccine is necessary to reduce the many outbreaks of rabies farther south in Tx simply to protect our families and incomes. And these animals like peoples garbage bad habits, n like coyote, can cause hurt to children when they lose their fear of you, because they r always wild animals. The damage intensifies because babies are created cute so they may survive to become your worst nightmare. Please remember this!

Rabies does not wait in the soil for an animal to come by. The virus dies within seconds after it leaves the body of the infected animal. It is transmitted by the bite of an infected animal or in very rare cases it can be in the air of a cave inhabited by infected animals (bats), in which case it might be quickly inhaled before the virus can die.

Ummmmm,...me thinks that there's more than one inaccuracy represented besides the rabies in the ground comment. Sorry, but the facts just don't support a lot of what was said.
I'm inclined to think that a practical joke (or inpractical,...whichever the case may be) was,.... possibly,....the intention....

Thanks, Linda,...for setting that straight

Yes, in any case it's extremely rare for any armadillos to have rabies. I think there have been 3 cases ever recorded of armadillos having rabies and no documented case of them passing it on to other species.

Anybody have any ideas how to trap a troll?!

LOL....I've heard they're particularly fond of Blue Bell ice cream...

A "mesh" sphere or cube constructed of 3/4" dia re-bar...with an
opening.....just large enough to allow the Troll to insert its hand/paw...in order to grasp the bait - (Note: the opening size must be relative to the size or type of Troll being trapped) The opening is also convenient for inserting a small to medium size bowl of Blue Bell - (most any chocolate based flavor is best)
the "trap" has a 3/4" link chain ( approx. 10 ft. long) welded to it.... (high strength alloy rod is best)... the other end of the chain is anchored to any available tree (6" dia. minimum is best) and locked together..

Now,...the pesky Troll will insert its hand/paw inside the trap....grasp the bowl of BB...and,...lost in its greedy excitement,...will refuse to let go of the bowl....even as it tries to escape with its "prize". Try as it may,...it cannot escape as long as it maintains its grasp of the bowl
since it's too large in diameter to exit the opening!
Dumb greedy Trolls! They're sooooo easy!

Tell me,....after you've trapped the Troll,....whatcha gonna do with it?

This message was edited Aug 3, 2008 1:57 PM

We usually don't have too much trouble with armadillos, but I can occasionally see where they have been digging. Had one tunnel under the house once, and had to use a trap.

You may think raccoons are cute, but we had one who actually tore the wire mesh cage from around our attic vent, and got in and made herself to home. Tore up the insulation all over the house, and got down in an interior wall and had babies. We caught the mother in a trap, but the babies couldn't get out of the wall. Had to tear out the sheetrock to get to them. Luckily it was the wall between our kitchen and garage, but it was still a pain.

At the time, raccoons were not considered rodents, and our homeowners policy paid for the repairs. I think that may have changed in the 5 years or so since.

Are you saying that insurance companies are calling raccoons rodents???? Wow.

My house backs up to a hill that goes down to a creek,-- the perfect habitat for all kinds of critters and we have them all. Racoons, possums, armadillos, skunks, etc. I only resent their presence when they uproot things in the garden, especially bulbs which I laboriously planted several inches down-- only to see them lying about on the ground the next morning.

I've tried quite a few things but so far the beasts are coming out ahead. Some of the deterrents I've tried: Glass salt shakers full of cotton balls soaked in fox urine, copious amounts of cayenne pepper or Tabasco poured into their burrows ( which is a bit mean, but apparently it doesn't really bother them as much as I hoped).

When I saw a mother armadillo followed by 4 babies I just hoped they weren't all females who would stay in their old home under my terrace and have 4 more babies apiece. Aaaagh. I am just about to do a lot of new planting so I have to get in "warrior mode" again and start spreading fox urine around in more copious amounts. I bought it at a hunting supply store.

Willis,

LOL. Trolls tend to strike and move on without those vexed going to all that trouble. Gotta save that Blue Bell for my own noshing.

This message was edited Aug 4, 2008 1:03 PM

yes, very few dilloes get rabies(hydrophobia), but coons, skunks, n your kids will. the area around Bryan n College Station, n this was a few years back about the time we started getting West Niles in our mosquito eating avians, they tried an experiment because of the heavy rabies outbreaks of salting the areas hit worst by rabies, with pellets containing rabies vaccines that were attractive to wild animals. It is documented. I have lived in Bonham, growing up/ our 840 acres had a cemetary, very old, that looked as if every coffin in it had been broken, dug up, tossed around. My grandfather explained that it was damage caused by armadilloes. Many diseases live on in the ground where hogs run(n there r clauses that prevent the raising or keeping of hogs in areas) n this includes the javelina, that can cause diseases like anaplasmosis in cattle, blackleg, tetanus, n these r transferable to humans, therefore, carcasses get burned. Hookworms, n tapeworms, I've dug up at my home, prob from dying cats dumped out in the wild, as where i live in Huntsville, the vets tell us wild cats are 100 percent likely to acquire cat leukemia from the ground and spread the worms and diseases. do I know exactly which ones are left? what grew in your dirt before you? All I wished to do was try to remind you, wild animals arent something you can track n trust to be safe. No jokes, I'm not a youngster.

Kittriana,

It's best if all of us post facts that can be documented if we want to be taken seriously. Heresay, family lore, and partial truths all too often lead to the spread of incorrect information, however sincere.

I'll bet you have lots of valuable information using tried and true home spun gardening techniques. Sensible and credible suggestions would be of great interest.

There's room for all of us and we can all learn from one another.

Thx Nac(mominlaw in Lufkin), short term memory loss from small stroke, leaves my immediate memories in lapses, tho I work hard to repair my abilities. Means that I have
memories of being 2 yrs old, but sometimes not yesterday very well, n that covers life since 1954, on a 150 head grade A dairy, with 400 acres in cultivation, in the counties of Atoka, Bryan N Johnson in Okla. running pretty much wild on my grandfathers 1600 acre ranch/ 11 g'kids, 2 sons n several come n go types of help, our summers were irrigating, 4 cuttings of alfalfa hay/1 of which after our 4 huge barns n 1 concrete greenchops silo were filled, we sold to the horse barns in Artesia,NM each yr. The garden was a corner of the field corn next to the Blue River bottom crossing my uncle n his little dozer had carved out of the black gumbo clay n we kids walked gathering the bois d'arc knots to burn, while he built a small dyke between the fields n the river. I digress. I had friends whom were game wardens, vets, 2 nephews who grad Aggies, who also remind me they werent here yet. I drive an 18 wheeler for income, studying after 11/14 hrs days with no place to park at libraries, since my things are packed n stored, leaves me with many regrets n wishes. My mother was (Menses?) xcept she thot they were snobs n refused to join. I dont remember where all the places I've put documentation on the things I've been part of/like our herd of Holsteins (we sold the stockers) was one of the herds that proved over testing of brucellosis(bangs) in cattle will actually give them the disease (Sept 1966). a rich life of events.

Morgan, the trap is made by havaheart. I think most hardware stores would have them. I caught him on an overcast rainy day. I was sitting on my porch and saw him rooting around in the yard. So I chased him to his hole and plugged up all his exits so the only way out was through the trap. I staked the little bugger out for two weeks before that too. Imagine my disappointment the next morning when I found out there were others around too. Usually there isn't just one. Which is why I'm going with plan B, the milky spore.

We bought another trap.....larger, and now have both of them up against the two holes we found. Hopefully he is in one of them and will have to come out that way.

I have also heard of the Castor Oil products, one liquid spray, and the other dry granules, that will repel them. Seems the Castor oil gets on the worms and grubs and when the Dillo eats them will give him an upset stomach, and he will go where the food tastes better. Their metabolism can't handle the Castor oil apparently.

So we are ordering some of it.....will let you know how it works.

All you have to do is read the word Castor Oil and us that we given it as kids can taste it!!! Eeww!

As my husband and I went out to get the morning paper before dawn this morning, we thought we would go in the backyard and check our traps to see if there was anything in them. As we got closer to the traps I didn't hear any "metal cage sound" as I had previously heard when we had caught the Raccoons, so I knew nothing was in them.
But I did hear a rustling in the plants and stopped.....my husband took the flashlight and walked right up to the Dillo who was digging in the dirt. He shined the light on him so we could both see....and he is large....no doubt getting fat at our midnight buffet.

We chased him into the plants by the pool where he must either have another burrow, or we have a magical disappearing Dillo, because we lost him.

The good news is there was only one! YEAH.

Perhaps we scared him enough to stay away......one can hope.

I hope so also. When the dillo was coming here before I chased him out of the yard a couple of times. It did seem to make him stay away a while each time but always returned. As far as I know, it isn't visiting anymore. Perhaps the presence of the coon family deterred it. Or maybe a neighbor trapped or shot it. I know that one neighbor was trying to trap it, but haven't seen that guy lately to ask him.

I just read in Organic Gardening mag that you can soak a rag in household vinegar and toss the rag into their burrow. They apparently cannot stand the fumes. Maybe if you can't trap it, you can encourage it to move on ;-)

Pam

I hope you scared him away, but I would be very surprised if that is the case. Their heads are very small, and I am guessing their brains (experience processing devices) are very small too. I dispatched one years ago by throwing a small rock at it when it was "growling" at a kitten in the back yard at the ranch. I hit it on the top of the head, and it fell over, flopped a bit, and died. I cried because I did not mean to kill it. DH explained that it could not have hurt the kitten, and that did not make me feel better. They can damage a yard and flower garden while they are removing grubs and other insects that they come across in the soil.