# Armadillo Question



## annagcaroline

Me and my neighbor just started having trouble with them around our yards. He is setting traps but has had no luck. What's the best time to try to set up and shoot one? Also will the eyes glow when shined with light?


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## Throwback

did he set live traps? If so did he make a "V" going into the trap with boards about 10 feet long? 



T


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## bat

I use a Driveway Patrol sensor you can find on ebay to signal me when they are in the yard.  Of course these will tell you when anything is detected so you will get a signal for everything that it senses but it is well worth the money for them.  You will find they mostly enter your yard at night around 11 or later but sometimes they are earlier or even in the day time hours.  

This coming spring when it starts to warm up look for them in areas around your house, in the woods or fencerows around 4 pm in the afternoon if possible.  Get rid of as many as you can then so then will not be a pest during the summer.


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## Beagler282

I have the sensors set in the front yard and back.When they cross the sensor the unit inside rings like a door bell.Get out of the bed and the 00buck shot goes a flying.I'm wearing em out right now.Well their wearing me out getting up in the middle of the night but it's eliminating the problem.


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## bjtillman

Throwback said:


> did he set live traps? If so did he make a "V" going into the trap with boards about 10 feet long?
> 
> 
> 
> T[/QUOT
> Throwback, I am not sure if you are asking about my reply earlier or not but I think you are.  I have made a V w/ the boards about 8 to 10 feet long and funneled them in the trap.  The longer the board the bigger the funnel.  The board has got to be tall enough and sturdy enough where they want knock it down or go over it.  I brace it with some pvc stakes or something to hold it steady.  I mentioned the diamond with 2 live traps because you want know what direction he is going to go when he comes out and should be able to funnel him to one or the other.  I have set the V in my rabbit pen where I found a path that they were using regular.  Put a rag or something in there where they will leave their smell and it will help catch more.


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## ghost8026

we use sensors also use feed times and tide charts because im near the marsh, it seems to work pretty good that way, we got one last night at 330am


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## dadsbuckshot

Dillers eat ants? True or Not?

Cause if they do, then I would love to have a yard full of them... I could deal with them 1000 times more than I can ants....


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## GB Young

I heard you could put rotten bananas in a live trap as bait. I don't personally know if it works.  Greg


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## Kvillehunter

My dogs let me know when anything is in the yard.


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## allen1932

We complain about getting up to feed the  baby, but love to wake up and grab a gun!


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## ELIWAITS

.22 is the best caliber for them


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## injun joe

I don't know. I shot one with a .204 and it looked like a red Mr. Misty being served out of his shell at a rapid rate of service.


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## deerhunter388

our dogs go nuts when they show up... so we just shoot them whenever the dogs find them.  However, it was very interesting back in the summer of 2008  our golden retriever kept showing up out of the woods with a freshly killed armadillo in her mouth... she came home with  4 or 5 that we know of.. I didn't know that dogs could bite through their shell.. but she sure did.. I don't know why but  now that she has some age on her she wont touch them, she'll just bark at them.


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## HOBO

*BAT*

What "Driveway patrol sensor" are you using???

That's a great idea!!!

I shot seven in one night last year....  This year I can't seen to catch them in the act even though some nights I get up and check several times....

.... And no to the question about the armadillo's eves shinning.....  Their eyes will not shine when hit with a light...

------------<" ){{{{{><


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## gutfire

Tillman- after you make the v into the trap, what do you actually bait it with? I've been trying to catch some that are tearing up my grandmas yard with no luck and that v sounds like a good I idea. I've tried about everything in a trap and can only catch possums lol. And she lives where I can't just go out guns a blazing after midnight


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## Wycliff

I dont think they are putting any bait just putting the trap in an area where they normally are.With the boards the just follow into the trap.


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## testdepth

There is no bait you can use for Armadillos.  You need to find the trail they are using to access your yard.  Set the trap along that trail and use the boards to guide the dillo into the trap.  They are that stupid.   The idea is to corral the dillo into the trap!


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## ngatom

Be careful with Armadillos, approximately 5% of them carry leprosy. About 95% of humans are immune but that does leave some folks susceptible.


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## Louie

I used to shoot them regularly on my property but they aren't around as much now. Just an FYI, they can jump pretty good, one  was in a stack of tires by my back porch and I shot down at it and he sprung up like a jack in the box so quick and surprising he almost hit the barrel. My neighbors aren't real close but when they hear shots late at night or early AM they know I'm critter-ridden again. I don't let my dogs at them because they're a nasty animal, like ngatom said some carry leprosy and I'm just not taking the chance. I'd be careful with them anyway when you do catch them.


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## dawg2

Somebody bumped an old thread!  But it is dillo season again...



Throwback said:


> did he set live traps? If so did he make a "V" going into the trap with boards about 10 feet long?
> 
> 
> 
> T


Making a funnel does help.



dadsbuckshot said:


> Dillers eat ants? True or Not?
> 
> Cause if they do, then I would love to have a yard full of them... I could deal with them 1000 times more than I can ants....


Yes, they will eat fireants and they also dig up and eat the larvae in yellow jacket nests.  But they also eat ground nesting bird eggs (quail, turkey, etc) as well as native snake and lizard eggs.  They do more damage than help.



Kvillehunter said:


> My dogs let me know when anything is in the yard.


That is how I know they are in the yard too.  Usually between 1-3 AM.



ELIWAITS said:


> .22 is the best caliber for them


Actually, a 12GA with #4 or #5 works best.  Especialy if they bolt you still have a chance.



deerhunter388 said:


> our dogs go nuts when they show up... so we just shoot them whenever the dogs find them.  However, it was very interesting back in the summer of 2008  our golden retriever kept showing up out of the woods with a freshly killed armadillo in her mouth... she came home with  4 or 5 that we know of.. I didn't know that dogs could bite through their shell.. but she sure did.. I don't know why but  now that she has some age on her she wont touch them, she'll just bark at them.


Yes, dogs can bite through their shells.



ngatom said:


> Be careful with Armadillos, approximately 5% of them carry leprosy. About 95% of humans are immune but that does leave some folks susceptible.


 The nine-banded armadillo is the one that can carry leprosy.  That also happens to be the one we have here.  I don't handle them.  I have a dedicated shovel labeled "DILLO" that is used only for them.



testdepth said:


> There is no bait you can use for Armadillos.  You need to find the trail they are using to access your yard.  Set the trap along that trail and use the boards to guide the dillo into the trap.  They are that stupid.   The idea is to corral the dillo into the trap!


Their eye sight is terrible.  So the funnel works like you said: Find where they are coming in OR find ther holes.  But the trap only works if you put it "in their way."  I have had no better success using "bait" than when I do not.


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## Washington95

Somewhere I read to use cantalope as bait.  Might try it.


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## lowlight223

I had one wander into the yard not long ago. Didn't pay the lil critter much attention until couple days later I noticed he was tear'n up the yard/grass! Next time I saw him, I introduced myself VIA HORNADY V-MAX IN 22 WINMAG!


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## cneedha1

I had one run off a 10 Pt last year down near Brunswick GA. He tore out of the bush the deer was browsing...and that deer crapped himself and ran off.


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## agradywills

Spread grub kill granules over the yard as directed and within 2 weeks I bet your armadillo problem will be gone.


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## king killer delete

*thanks*

I live on Hwy 30 and been killem with my 22.


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## golffreak

We have a lot of them on the golf course. We usually see the most after an afternoon rain.


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## 3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI

Take yourself some 4 or 5 in PVC pipe. Cut it about 2 to 2.5 ft long. Put a cap on one end. Take a pair of post hole diggers or and auger and dig you some holes on a 45 to 30 degrees put the cap side of the pvc in the ground.Then fill in around the PVC so it will be tight.  Then get some night crawlers and put down in the bottom for bait. Maybe make 2 or 3 and try some of the different bait other have suggested. We did this in deer camp and worked very well. Then you will see there tail and reach in and grab them kill them, relocate to your mother-in-laws yard what ever you would like.


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## one hogman

I have handled them and even sneaked up on them and kicked them but my Dr. says not to touch them unless you wear gloves, because they can carry Leprosy. We usually shoot them and let them lay.


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## win280

agradywills said:


> Spread grub kill granules over the yard as directed and within 2 weeks I bet your armadillo problem will be gone.



Yep.
Get rid of the food scource and they will travel.
But it is a lot more fun and cheaper to choot em.


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## ELIWAITS

I still think a .22long is the best


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## gatorbob

*Armadillos*

I live in an area where it is illegal to use guns (although I have out of frustration) We have serious dillo problems and I have found that leaving on a yard lite or two pretty much eliminates the problem but they occasionally hit lawn areas where lite dosn't hit.


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## belittle2

As stated  above dillos love earth/grub worms they will ruin a good yard digging them out of the ground. Cover yard with liquid seven or similar chemical to rid yard of the worms and dillos go with them . Shoot them with any thing as long as thier dead who cares . I hate them in the deer woods


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## king killer delete

*Will this really work?*



3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI said:


> Take yourself some 4 or 5 in PVC pipe. Cut it about 2 to 2.5 ft long. Put a cap on one end. Take a pair of post hole diggers or and auger and dig you some holes on a 45 to 30 degrees put the cap side of the pvc in the ground.Then fill in around the PVC so it will be tight.  Then get some night crawlers and put down in the bottom for bait. Maybe make 2 or 3 and try some of the different bait other have suggested. We did this in deer camp and worked very well. Then you will see there tail and reach in and grab them kill them, relocate to your mother-in-laws yard what ever you would like.


will this work?


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## Texas7mag

Has anybody ever actually seen a baby armodillo?


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## 3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI

killer elite said:


> will this work?



It did for us we caught at least 15 that way. We even had a armadillo contests. $30 a man and you can bring as many people that wanted to come. Who ever killed the most in one weekend one the pot. It was fun doing it and we wiped out some armadillo's. I always hate sitting on the stand and then hear something coming heart starts racing and then all of a sudden here pops an armadillo. I think the winner got close to $600 .


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## bamaboy

*armadillos*

We caught some in traps camoed up with dirt over the wire floor and armadillos eat worms and grubs so use them as your bait in a plastic dish.Do not use any type of metal the noise scares them.


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## Nicodemus

Texas7mag said:


> Has anybody ever actually seen a baby armodillo?





I`ve seen a few, and caught one by hand a few years ago. Its shell was still soft, but its eyes were open.


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## tnorton

see the babies every summer, always 4 of them together...catch em two at a time, one in each hand..never see the mother around


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## tnorton

was watching an adult this evening, waiting to take a good picture of it......was squatted down wating on him to exit the brush he was in AND all of a sudden this juvenile bobcat jumps into my frame. less than ten yards away from me, it was stalking the dillo too. i snapped one photo, and it turned facing me and before i could snap another it was gone just that quick.


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## Twenty five ought six

Texas7mag said:


> Has anybody ever actually seen a baby armodillo?




I have -- saw one on the deer lease last year -- about the size of a big rat.

Cutest little thing.


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## king killer delete

*25  06*

I like to shoot the pest with my 25 06. It is funny to watch them jump. We have so many that they are a real problem in South Georgia.


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## hardwoodhallar

ELIWAITS said:


> .22 is the best caliber for them



i agree i take the four wheeler and ride the fields at my farm and shot them this time of the year the best time is after a rain they really get on the move then . u can also take a five gallon bucket and make a v with to the bucket and put a banana in the bucket they will walk in and they want be able to turn around it works so i have seen it work! more fun with the four wheeler !!!!


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## GunnSmokeer

Ruger 10-22 with a 30-round magazine full of CCI Mini-Mag hollowpoints.
Bipod.
BMF Activator trigger-crank device that fires 4 rounds for every cycle of the crank.

It's not as efficient as just taking careful aim and shooting them in the head with a scoped varmint rifle, but at 50 feet with a gatling gun, it's more fun


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