OP
Gem99ultra
Elite Member
I have not been successful in catching armadillos by the tail. In the first place, they are too quick for me to run down. But once caught, they roll up barring those long claws. Too long for my liking.
My worst firsthand experience with catching or trapping armadillos was back in Texas. We lived in a housing neighborhood outside of Houston in a little town called Friendswood; otherwise known locally as Quakertown. We had a huge armadillo that was digging underneath the slab of the house and coming out at night tearing up the yard big time.
A good friend told me that I could run the armadillo out of the hole and trap it or be ready with a pistol and end it all, by smoking it out. So I gathered up a bunch of pine needles, shoved them in the edge of the hole and set fire to them.
No luck. Not enough smoke went into the hole. So I quadrupled the amount of pine needles, poked them into the hole as far as I could with a rake handle, and set that bundle on fire. The fire didn't seem to want to go down the hole and under the house, so I got out the leaf blower.
Cranked the leaf blower up, pumping plenty of air into the fire. It roared like a blacksmith's bellows. And yes, the fire did go on down the hole. Smoke bellowed out into the cold air like you wouldn't believe. The cold air kept the smoke hanging low as it crept over the entire neighborhood.
You could tell it was a really hot fire from the loud roar. In fact, I got afraid that it was going to get so hot that it'd either crack the concrete slab, or maybe even catch the flooring inside the house on fire. I grabbed a water hose and shoved it as far into the hole as I could and finally got the flames doused.
Neighbors came running, thinking that house was on fire. Several offered to call the fire department, but I begged them to not do that. I'd probably get locked up for setting the fire. I'm thinking arson charges about that time.
All ended well though. Armadillo never came out if he was even in that particular hole to start with. I ended up with the local reputation of as the neighborhood pyromaniac? We moved to Georgia a couple of years later. Armadillo probably still lives in the same hole. With his hundreds of kindred.
Now, here out in the country, I can shoot those suckers all I want. That is, if I could stay awake late enough at night to catch them. Meanwhile, we have literally thousands of little dirt holes dug everywhere in the yard. Two things I will NOT be doing though, is to catch them by the tail nor building a fire in their hole.
My worst firsthand experience with catching or trapping armadillos was back in Texas. We lived in a housing neighborhood outside of Houston in a little town called Friendswood; otherwise known locally as Quakertown. We had a huge armadillo that was digging underneath the slab of the house and coming out at night tearing up the yard big time.
A good friend told me that I could run the armadillo out of the hole and trap it or be ready with a pistol and end it all, by smoking it out. So I gathered up a bunch of pine needles, shoved them in the edge of the hole and set fire to them.
No luck. Not enough smoke went into the hole. So I quadrupled the amount of pine needles, poked them into the hole as far as I could with a rake handle, and set that bundle on fire. The fire didn't seem to want to go down the hole and under the house, so I got out the leaf blower.
Cranked the leaf blower up, pumping plenty of air into the fire. It roared like a blacksmith's bellows. And yes, the fire did go on down the hole. Smoke bellowed out into the cold air like you wouldn't believe. The cold air kept the smoke hanging low as it crept over the entire neighborhood.
You could tell it was a really hot fire from the loud roar. In fact, I got afraid that it was going to get so hot that it'd either crack the concrete slab, or maybe even catch the flooring inside the house on fire. I grabbed a water hose and shoved it as far into the hole as I could and finally got the flames doused.
Neighbors came running, thinking that house was on fire. Several offered to call the fire department, but I begged them to not do that. I'd probably get locked up for setting the fire. I'm thinking arson charges about that time.
All ended well though. Armadillo never came out if he was even in that particular hole to start with. I ended up with the local reputation of as the neighborhood pyromaniac? We moved to Georgia a couple of years later. Armadillo probably still lives in the same hole. With his hundreds of kindred.
Now, here out in the country, I can shoot those suckers all I want. That is, if I could stay awake late enough at night to catch them. Meanwhile, we have literally thousands of little dirt holes dug everywhere in the yard. Two things I will NOT be doing though, is to catch them by the tail nor building a fire in their hole.
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