Armadillo neighbor

16 years ago

Well, it seems that an armadillo (maybe more) have taken up residence in our yard. By that, I mean it has dug a tunnel in between our 2 AC units. Judging by the size of the hole, you could put a saddle on this armadillo! We also have 2 smaller tunnel entrances on the side of our house.

I've called several wildlife removal services to discuss this and have been quoted anywhere from "just the cost of gas to drive to your house" all the way to $289 with an additional $50 per visit in case there are others in the yard. All have assured me they relocate the critter(s) to areas where they can do whatever it is armadillos do.

My questions are:

1) Could this be something else besides an armadillo?

2) What happens if it is a momma armadillo and she gets relocated but there are babies in the tunnels?

3) Could I have a small village of armadillos living in the tunnels?

4) I am not ba!!sy enough to catch them myself, but are there any ways I can try and lure them out and keep them from digging other tunnels?

I tried calling Hillsborough County Animal Control who referred me to the Florida Wildlife Department in Tallahassee who then gave me some names and numbers of people in the area to call. My number one priority is that the animal(s) are NOT harmed in any way. I absolutely cannot tolerate that. It would break my heart. I also don't want any damage to be done to my AC units or under the house. What do I do?!?!

Comments (7)

flatlander
16 years ago
we've had an infestation of them lately up in kansas. they WILL destroy your yard in a hurry.

1. posssibly, what makes you think it's a dillo? have you seen it? do you have lots of holes in the yard?
2. they'll die
3. yes, but unlikely this time of year
4. they are difficult to trap. a subsonic 22 will work well when you run out of patience.
lisa11310
16 years ago
Gee Whiz, what a creep. Guess he didn't read your whole post OR the reason for this forum!
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leslie123
16 years ago
I had one when I was living in the country on 1.6 fenced acres. It either dug into the yard, or wandered in one day when I left the gate open. Talk about funny when my 2 Australian shepherds came upon it during their before-bedtime potty run - they didn't know whether to chase it, or herd it. They never touched it, though. We saw it almost every night for almost a month (I left the yard wild). One day it must've wandered out, because we never saw it again.
marilyn_c
16 years ago
I've never trapped any but other rehabbers have trapped them and brought them to me. I believe the way they did it, was put up a barrier than lead them to the trap. I have released several on my property and last year, I raised two batches of babies, five in all. This is a picture of Henry and Edsel just prior to being released in my yard. I do live on 50 acres, but I probably have as many flower beds as anyone here, and I have never found them to be a particular problem. The only problem I had with them was they could suck down about a dozen night crawlers per feeding, and since I couldn't raise enough to keep up, it got a little expensive feeding them.
pikecoe
16 years ago
Tampafred, I'm just a couple hundred miles north of you just off I75. If you take a water hose and put it in the edge of the hole and turn it on. The hole will fill up with water and the Dillo will come to the surface to breathe and come out of the hole. Then you can capture him in a hava heart trap or dog kennel or some sort of cage and relocate him. He will not hurt you in any way. If there is more than 1 they will all come out. And the water will not hurt them. The only damage they do is dig up a yard looking for roots and bugs. And can sound like a whole herd of hogs while doing it.Glenda
marilyn_c
16 years ago
And if there are little babies in the hole, they will drown.
pikecoe
16 years ago
No they won't. They will float out also. They keep their noses out of the water and just rise with the water until the get to the top of the hole and crawl out onto dry soil. How do you think they survive when there is a very heavy rain? Glenda