How do we keep armadillo"s out of our vegtable garden, I will not kill them, they wreck every thing at night,we live close to woods so quess that is where there comeing from.thanks Irene

-- irene orsborn (tkorsborn@cs.com), April 10, 2001

Answers

keep them out without killing them??? get rid of the garden. they dig pretty well, so a fence wont work to well,, electric may not work either, they will short it out before they learn about it. A good dog,, let him kill them

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), April 10, 2001.

Use 2 long boards 1x12's will work and make a Y shaped funnel into your live trap. If you can see trail (from tracks) locate trap in trail.No bait necessary. The longer the boards the more effective the trap. Then you can relocate them away from your garden. Hope you have good luck.

-- jd-tx (inkina@cctc.net), April 10, 2001.

I've had good luck keeping rabbits out of the garden by having the fence run along the ground for a foot or so before going vertical. When the rabbits hop up to the fence, they try to dig under it, but they are standing on top of this foot of fence, and can't dig.

Armadillos? Are you aware that their main diet is insects? Are they eating your plants enough to get rid of them, or are they actually beneficial? I'll take them, if you'll bring them out here :)

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), April 10, 2001.

Our REA magazine address this problem in their garden section. They suggested the fencing with buried outfacing horizonal footing about 12 inches below surface also.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 10, 2001.

The armadillo is 15-17 inches long plus it has a 14-16 inch tail. They weigh 8-17 pounds.

They're grub and insect eaters, and with that long tongue can swoop up 60-70 insects at once. Each animal maintains 4-5 burrows - each 10-15 feet long and with one entrance. Their home range is 5-10 acres. (Just to let you know what you're in for if you leave the critter on your property!)

I saw what I thought was a bear cave on my property ~ that's how large an area an armadillo had carved out in a short time. All I could see was the thick tail sticking out of the 'cave.' Silly me grabbed the tail and pulled. Of course nothing happened! They anchor themselves to ground with those extremely long claws when attacked. I just ran around making a lot of noise and she left. I figure it was a she 'cause it was their breeding season.

They can bite severely and can kick HARD with both front and hind legs. No dog would have a chance against an adult.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 11, 2001.

Really, folks, I'd love to have armadillos around here. Why do you want to get rid of them?

Rogo, you say that "They're grub and insect eaters, and with that long tongue can swoop up 60-70 insects at once. "

Isn't that GOOD? I mean, who needs all those grubs and insects around the garden?

I love armadillos. They are just doing their own thing, and acting as slow, nearly blind little organic insecticides. And they're cute as a bug's eyelashes. They are related to anteaters. The females give birth to four identical quadruplets.

For the Armadillophobes among us, just be glad you don't live in Brazil, where a species of armadillo (the Giant Armadillo) grows to an adult size of five foot long!

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), April 11, 2001.

We live in Arkansas and have dealt with armadillos for years. They are good grub eaters but they also make alot of damage wherever they go. They can tear up your lawn and make mowing harder. Also flowers, etc. I have never known them to bite though and I have 3 rat terriers that hate them and help keep them out of the yard and have also killed a few.

-- Eve Lyn (evelynv@ipa.net), April 11, 2001.

These 'cute' critters will destroy your property more so than the feral hogs! Their claws/teeth can rip you apart. They've been taken off the menu in restaurants, and folks have stopped eating them due to their link with leprosy.

BTW, they do NOT roll up in a ball! -G-

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 11, 2001.

Build a fence and sprinkle moth crystals around the perimeter of your garden. I needed a "hurry up" fence for my garden when we first moved here so I drove steel t-posts every 6 feet around the perimeter and wrapped 3 foot tall chicken netting around the whole thing. I couldn't find a wire cutting pliers that day so I attached the chicken netting with twisty ties from a box of garbage bags. Then I sprinkled a box of moth crystals around the outside of the entire garden. Voila! It worked so well that I didn't take the chicken netting down until garden cleanup that fall.

My brother evicted a family of skunks from under his garage slab with moth crystals and a radio playing 24 hour acid rock. It was raining so he laid a trash can on its side and put the radio in it.

-- DMT (dmtaylor@fanninelectric.com), April 17, 2001.