armadillo?
 

I've got something visiting my yard at night, digging holes in the grass
and in my raised beds. It appears that it is eating grubs or something
that can be found 2-4" below the surface. I'm all about leaving things
alone and maintaining a healthy ecosystem in my yard, but after 2
months, I'm starting to get annoyed!

I have a dog, but she sleeps inside. I was hoping her urine smell would
keep the thing away, but no go. Any tips on getting it to move to
someone else's yard? ;)

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:51:27 GMT, deepeddygirl
wrote:

Any tips on getting it to move to someone else's yard? ;)

The armadillo will not dig holes if it fails to smell a grub - maybe
an earthworm. If you eliminate those then the armadillo will
naturally move to a yard with a better grocery store. So you could
try treating your yard for grubs. Don't they have a biological agent
now to do that?

Trapping it and hauling it off works best - but that is not easy.

Rusty Mase

"deepeddygirl" wrote in message
...
I've got something visiting my yard at night, digging holes in the grass
and in my raised beds. It appears that it is eating grubs or something
that can be found 2-4" below the surface. I'm all about leaving things
alone and maintaining a healthy ecosystem in my yard, but after 2
months, I'm starting to get annoyed!

I have a dog, but she sleeps inside. I was hoping her urine smell would
keep the thing away, but no go. Any tips on getting it to move to
someone else's yard? ;)

I've got a squirrel digging similar holes to 'plant' acorns and pecans. My
none-too-bright dog occasionally notices and chases the squirrel so I've got
a number of little unfilled holes around the yard. Most of the time the dog
is staring up into a tree while the squirrel goes about his work behind the
dog's back.

Rusty Mase wrote:

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:51:27 GMT, deepeddygirl
wrote:


Any tips on getting it to move to someone else's yard? ;)


The armadillo will not dig holes if it fails to smell a grub - maybe
an earthworm. If you eliminate those then the armadillo will
naturally move to a yard with a better grocery store. So you could
try treating your yard for grubs. Don't they have a biological agent
now to do that?

Trapping it and hauling it off works best - but that is not easy.

Rusty Mase

yeahbut aren't grubs and earthworms a sign of good soil? I didn't know I
could put something down to eliminate them. I'll look it up.

How would you trap the damn thing anyway? ;)

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 16:28:06 GMT, deepeddygirl
wrote:


yeahbut aren't grubs and earthworms a sign of good soil? I didn't know I
could put something down to eliminate them. I'll look it up.

Yes, they both are, aerating and turning the soil, etc.. I would just
ignore the armadillo as some motorist will likely eliminate the
armadillo in the near future. Having a good soil biota is more
important. But you can possibly eliminate the grubs with "Milky
Spore" products. These are available locally I believe and I think
they are considered an organic solution.

How would you trap the damn thing anyway? ;)

I caught one armadillo by the tail many years ago and the outcome for
both of us was unpleasant - no damage - it just scared the both of us
pretty seriously. So do not try that as they are very strong and very
committed to escaping.

I would recommend that you ignore it and let nature take its course.
Kick in the dirt from the holes they dig and the grass will grow back.

Rusty Mase

Rusty Mase wrote:

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 16:28:06 GMT, deepeddygirl
wrote:



yeahbut aren't grubs and earthworms a sign of good soil? I didn't know I
could put something down to eliminate them. I'll look it up.


Yes, they both are, aerating and turning the soil, etc.. I would just
ignore the armadillo as some motorist will likely eliminate the
armadillo in the near future. Having a good soil biota is more
important. But you can possibly eliminate the grubs with "Milky
Spore" products. These are available locally I believe and I think
they are considered an organic solution.


How would you trap the damn thing anyway? ;)


I caught one armadillo by the tail many years ago and the outcome for
both of us was unpleasant - no damage - it just scared the both of us
pretty seriously. So do not try that as they are very strong and very
committed to escaping.

I would recommend that you ignore it and let nature take its course.
Kick in the dirt from the holes they dig and the grass will grow back.

Rusty Mase

'kay - thanks for the help!

In article ,
deepeddygirl wrote:

I've got something visiting my yard at night, digging holes in the grass
and in my raised beds. It appears that it is eating grubs or something
that can be found 2-4" below the surface. I'm all about leaving things
alone and maintaining a healthy ecosystem in my yard, but after 2
months, I'm starting to get annoyed!

I have a dog, but she sleeps inside. I was hoping her urine smell would
keep the thing away, but no go. Any tips on getting it to move to
someone else's yard? ;)

Go out at night with a flashlight and see if you can spot it...
Carefully sneak up on it and grab it by the tail, then drop it into a
cage. Take it far away and set it free.

I'm serious. Armadillos are easy to capture by hand. I've done it
several times. They are not very bright!

K.
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell--you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

In article ,
Katra wrote:

- In article ,
- deepeddygirl wrote:
-
- I've got something visiting my yard at night, digging holes in the grass
- and in my raised beds. It appears that it is eating grubs or something
- that can be found 2-4" below the surface. I'm all about leaving things
- alone and maintaining a healthy ecosystem in my yard, but after 2
- months, I'm starting to get annoyed!
-
- I have a dog, but she sleeps inside. I was hoping her urine smell would
- keep the thing away, but no go. Any tips on getting it to move to
- someone else's yard? ;)
-
- Go out at night with a flashlight and see if you can spot it...
- Carefully sneak up on it and grab it by the tail, then drop it into a
- cage. Take it far away and set it free.
-
- I'm serious. Armadillos are easy to capture by hand. I've done it
- several times. They are not very bright!


Of course, if it's a skunk you'll want to try another approach!
--
8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~
"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
***Revelation 22:12*** ICQ: 349878998
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/

Of course, if it's a skunk you'll want to try another approach!

If it's a baby armadillo or baby skunk, send it to me!
:)
Cindy

Nope, this isn't a baby. We have holes all over our back yard as well.
This thing is digging up rocks that are bigger than my husband's fist.
It's been around before, but he left my raised beds alone. We have St.
Augustine in the front yard now so his destruction is getting expensive. ;)

Do skunks dig like that? Hmmmm. Didn't think about that possibility.

Cindy wrote:

Of course, if it's a skunk you'll want to try another approach!


If it's a baby armadillo or baby skunk, send it to me!
:)
Cindy

In article ,
deepeddygirl wrote:

Nope, this isn't a baby. We have holes all over our back yard as well.
This thing is digging up rocks that are bigger than my husband's fist.
It's been around before, but he left my raised beds alone. We have St.
Augustine in the front yard now so his destruction is getting expensive. ;)

Do skunks dig like that? Hmmmm. Didn't think about that possibility.


If it's a skunk, you will smell it, even indoors.

Trust me..... :-P

K. (who smells skunk in the neighborhood when they just walk near the
yard!)
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell--you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

Yes, it could be a skunk. You may not smell it, I never did until my
dogs tangled with one, and then I guess you could say we smelled it.

On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 02:29:34 -0500, Katra
wrote:

In article ,
deepeddygirl wrote:

Nope, this isn't a baby. We have holes all over our back yard as well.
This thing is digging up rocks that are bigger than my husband's fist.
It's been around before, but he left my raised beds alone. We have St.
Augustine in the front yard now so his destruction is getting expensive. ;)

Do skunks dig like that? Hmmmm. Didn't think about that possibility.


If it's a skunk, you will smell it, even indoors.

Trust me..... :-P

K. (who smells skunk in the neighborhood when they just walk near the
yard!)

Gardenville recommended Beneficial Nemitodes to get rid of grub worms (which
is what armadillos are looking for). You can buy them at Gardenville or Red
Barn. They come in these packages of dirt that you mix with water and spray
on your yard.

It worked for us -- no more grub worms.

The armadillo will not dig holes if it fails to smell a grub - maybe
an earthworm. If you eliminate those then the armadillo will
naturally move to a yard with a better grocery store. So you could
try treating your yard for grubs. Don't they have a biological agent
now to do that?

When I was a kid, my dad tried to capture an armadillo as described below.
It was not pretty. Armadillos become ferocious when they're dangling from
their tail. I'd recommend a tranquilizer or some body armor if you go this
route.

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
deepeddygirl wrote:

I've got something visiting my yard at night, digging holes in the grass
and in my raised beds. It appears that it is eating grubs or something
that can be found 2-4" below the surface. I'm all about leaving things
alone and maintaining a healthy ecosystem in my yard, but after 2
months, I'm starting to get annoyed!

I have a dog, but she sleeps inside. I was hoping her urine smell would
keep the thing away, but no go. Any tips on getting it to move to
someone else's yard? ;)

Go out at night with a flashlight and see if you can spot it...
Carefully sneak up on it and grab it by the tail, then drop it into a
cage. Take it far away and set it free.

I'm serious. Armadillos are easy to capture by hand. I've done it
several times. They are not very bright!

K.
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell--you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

In article ,
"Bob" wrote:

When I was a kid, my dad tried to capture an armadillo as described below.
It was not pretty. Armadillos become ferocious when they're dangling from
their tail. I'd recommend a tranquilizer or some body armor if you go this
route.


What happened???

I was not kidding about ME catching them this way!
I've done it about 6 times.

They do have dangerous claws, but when you hold them by the tail, they
are totally helpless! I hold them away from my body and have never even
been scratched. "Ferocious???" All they do is try to "run" in the air.
They are incapable of biting you.

I've caught possums the same way with the help of my dogs, but that's
quite a bit more dangerous. ;-) With them, I either have a club or an
open cage handy.....

K.
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather
to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand and chocolate covered
strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
and screaming WOO HOO- What a ride."