DIY Armadillo Removal: How to get rid of armadillos from your property

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Armadillos may look cute, but they can cause some trouble in your household if they make their way inside. Summer is already here; your precious garden is growing and you want to keep things neat. Enter the armadillo; they dig up large patches of earth and uproot flowering plants in the process.

Fear not, this article can be your helpful guide to getting rid of armadillos once and for all. Let us help you with your DIY armadillo removal mission.

Table of Contents

Armadillo Facts

DIY Removal

Armadillo facts

Before jumping into armadillo removal, let us go over a few important things about these animals:

  • Habitat
    If you live in Texas or Florida, you have probably seen many armadillos in your lifetime. They are commonly found in these two states.
    Armadillos usually live in the woods. As they are habitual diggers, they need their soil to be fairly soft. In a typical armadillo territory, they tend to dig many burrows that are up to 15 feet in depth.

  • How to identify one
    This guide should be helpful to you if you’ve never seen an armadillo. An armadillo has nine bands on its body and a long snout. Its body is covered with a tough shell full of scales. The function of the nine bands is that it allows the animal to flex, bend, and maneuver itself. This funny-looking creature is the size of a common cat, weighing around 8-17 pounds.

  • Diet
    Armadillos are omnivores. They can be beneficial to us as they eat many insects, larvae, scorpions, etc. They also eat garden snails and earthworms. They are nocturnal animals, i.e., they are active at night and they hide in their burrows during the day. Armadillos eat vegetables and herbs as well.

  • Behaviors
    Though they can’t see very well, they have an excellent sense of smell. After mating in July, they give birth to four identical twin babies in February or March. Besides burrowing, they can easily walk under water surfaces such as ditches and canals.

  • Armadillo damage
    As we already know, armadillos love to do some serious digging. They tend to destroy flower and vegetable gardens by digging underneath their surface. Thanks to their very strong scales, digging under concrete, sewerage lines, water supply lines, and even telephone lines are not a problem to them. In fact, a lot of houses have cracks in their foundation because an armadillo decided to wreak havoc!

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DIY armadillo removal

If you notice a pesky armadillo on your property, you should promptly get rid of it to prevent damage. Here are a few effective ways to help you remove them.

  • Put up a fence
    It’s very important to prevent armadillos and other pests from entering your yard. For that, you can put up a fence. The fence can be of any height but should be around 18 inches deep into the ground. This will stop armadillos from burrowing underground.

    It is also important to keep the top part of your fence slanted at 45 degrees to prevent armadillos from jumping over. We recommend that you put up a 2 feet high fence.

  • Strong odor
    Strong smells can act as deterrents for armadillo control. Some of the scents that these animals don’t like are vinegar, mothballs, and ammonia. Spread a generous amount of these chemicals onto your yard for best results, this will keep the armadillos away.

  • Set up traps
    If the armadillo nuisance in your yard is out of control, trapping can be the last resort. First, identify any visible burrows in your property. You can then place some traps in different locations and especially near these burrows.

    For best results, you may set up your trap with some bait like earthworms or fruit. It is also important to get a very strong trap so that the animals can’t break away from it. If you have caught one in your trap, gently release them in some remote woodlands away from your house.

  • Reduce food sources
    To control the armadillo population in your yard, you have to eliminate their food sources. You can do this by reducing water and fertilizer used in your garden and lawns. If the soil is too moist, it attracts earthworms and insects, which in turn attracts armadillos.

With these helpful steps, we hope that you successfully get rid of armadillos once and for all. However, not all DIY pest control methods are fully successful. In that case, don’t hesitate to seek help from professional pest control services rather than DIY armadillo removal techniques.