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Outwit and Outlast the Troublesome Armadillo
June 5, 2010
Have you ever discovered your once beautiful green lawn looking like the surface of the moon, full of craters? If so, then you may have been visited by an alien-looking creature known as the armadillo.
Armadillos originated in South America. They are mammals. They are neither rodents nor marsupials and are not related to the opossum. Their closest living relative is the anteater and sloth.
The most easily recognized feature of an armadillo is its shell. Their common name, armadillo, is derived from a Spanish term meaning “little armored one”. All armadillos have shells, made of true bone, that cover their backs. Most armadillos also have bony rings or plates that protect their tails.
Digging machines
Armadillos are built to dig. They rely on this ability to escape danger and survive. They prefer sandy or loam soils that are relatively easy to excavate. Therefore, they are well adapted to Northwest Florida soils.
Armadillos typically rest in deep burrows during the day and become more active during the late evening, night, or early morning. These burrows are usually located under brushpiles, stumps, dense brush, or concrete patios, and are about 7 to 8 inches in diameter and can be up to 15 feet long. They often have several burrows throughout their territory.
Food sources
Armadillos feed primarily on insects. They also eat earthworms, scorpions, spiders, snails, and small vertebrates and their eggs. They consume large amounts of armyworms, cockroaches, ants, wasps, flies, beetles, and grasshoppers. They have been known to dig up entire yellow-jacket nests.
Some consider the armadillo a beneficial creature because they eat potential pests. Many consider the armadillo a pest because of their destructive ways. Armadillo can burrow under driveways and patios causing structural damage. Burrows in pastures can pose a potential hazard to livestock. And because armadillos usually search for food by rooting or digging in the ground, they can damage large areas of the lawn or garden.
Control measures
If you find that you cannot live with these creatures, the University of Florida recommends four ways to deal with armadillos.
- reducing the amount of water and fertilizer you apply to your lawn
- creating barriers (e.g., fences),
- live-trapping
- shooting offending individuals (check local ordinances)
The best solution (and the most expensive) is a stout fence to keep the armadillos out. If you take this route, make sure the fence is buried at least 18 inches into the ground, or they might just burrow under it.
Reducing the water and fertilizer applications to your lawn may help reduce armadillo damage. A moist lush landscape is perfect for earthworms and insect larvae. Armadillos love earthworms. Sometimes watering adjacent areas may attract armadillos away from a site.
Trapping can be frustrating and may require some ingenious thinking. Some tried and true trapping techniques are discussed at length in an online University of Florida publication by Dr. Russ Mizell at http://ufinsect.ifas.ufl.edu/armadillo.htm.
Remember that poison baits are illegal and ineffective. No chemical repellents or fumigants are registered for use in Florida.
Armadillos are very happy in Northwest Florida and are here to stay. If they have become unwelcomed house guests, put your thinking cap on and be committed to outwitting and outlasting this prehistoric-looking creature.
For more information, contact Theresa Friday at 850-623-3868 or email tlfriday@ufl.edu. Friday is the Residential Horticulture Extension Agent for Santa Rosa County.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
11 Responses to “Outwit and Outlast the Troublesome Armadillo”
Believe it or not. I just witnessed an armadillo climbing a tree to get su-it, a fatty bird feed mix. This thing has been tearing the feeder apart. We thought it was a raccoon, not so.
omgoodness, i have one that has made a home under my patio, calling around for prices on trapping and removal. So far I have 2 prices $289.00 and $389.00. Time to have my son come over with his gun lol j/k Still calling around
Shotgun usually works best for us!
One night we started after one and found it was foaming at the mouth and acting plum crazy. My husband shot it several times and nothing seemed to phase it.
It acted as if it had rabies. At one point it started running after us and we both went up a fence. I’m guessing they can get rabies like any other wild animal?
It’s nice if you can kill it in your yard and carry it away to rought, but when they run out in the woods and die, the stink is horrible for at least a week or so.
Hitting them with a car seems to work pretty well.
Leprosy doesn’t actually cause your skin to rot off. It deadens the nerves and people damage their skins by not feeling pain.
About 95% of the population is immune to leprosy so that is not the danger it sounds like, also it’s hard to catch even if you come in contact with it, generally you need an open wound along with close contact.
And while some Louisiana armadillos are infected, I think that was due to close contact with people in a Leper Collony.
Even if you do catch it, it can be cured with antibiotics.
Which leads to: Armadillos are tasty but hard to skin.
Their pelts make pitiful fur coats (not warm and way too noisy).
If the ants they eat include fire ants, I need some more around my place. (I had already about decided I needed more because they missed a spot turning my yard upside down.)
Life is good
First thing you do is:
Get a Big Dog.
Let the Big dog out in the Yard.
Problem solved.
2nd thing you can do, if you don’t have a big dog, is mimic the little mongrels movements.
Think like an Armadillo.
Be an Armadillo.
Dress up in shimmering armor and run around your property waving your arms about real crazy like. Helps if you have a couple cocktails.Make lots of Armadillo noises.Jump up and down and roll around like a real Armadillo. Armadillos don’t climb trees, so don’t make that rookie mistake of climbing trees or climbing on your next door neighbors roof. Don’t be shy. Armadillos know when someone is just acting like them. Armadillos are keen to this charade. You don’t want a group of Armadillos laughing at you,do you? No. Of course not. That would be silly. To pull this off you must act exactly like an Armadillo.
Make sure you get your neighbors like me involved. Before dressing up and acting like an Armadillo, Make a phone call to me. I want to take pictures. I would NEVER post them on the web. Who me? Never!
Good luck.
I’m here for you all. It’s a calling I have been burdened with.
If you find their burrow, you can dash about a half cup of gasoline down the hole and push the dirt in the hole and forget about them.
We live in a very wooded area and this pest invades our yard all the time. Try walking your dog at night where they have been. We have done all the things we can think to get rid of them. I guess you could say ,since we still have them- caulk up one for the armadillos.
My husband and I did shoot them until a few years back when we found where they had dug into and destroyed a ground wasp nest, there were about 5 pieces of nest, some chunks of the nest were about 8 inches long x 10 inches wide and about 1 inch thick. I had never seen this before and my husband is very allergic to the wasp bite so we decided then if they want to dig and eat, then let them be. If my husband would have stepped into this nest on his walk with the dog, he would be dead. So if the armadillo can destory a nest and my husband not get biten I like them even better, I don’t even play the game of running over them in my truck anymore, we leave them alone now.
That disease is Leprosy, or more accurately……….Hansen’s Disease.
And DO NOT TOUCH THEM! Some of them carry the disease that makes your skin rot off.