Armadillos are so cute...

sendero · Jun 5, 2006

... but I've grown to HATE them.

I'm trying to do some absentee gardening at my Grayson county hideout. We've planted 10 pecan trees, which are mostly doing well, and a dozen blackberry bushes and a few blueberry bushes.

The #$%^#$ armadillos love to dig where we water the trees/shrubs, probably because there are bugs there. They dug up a couple of our bushes and damaged others. I put in a drip system Saturday, and Saturday night one bit into the tubing in three spots, which I had to repair. I'm only there on the weekends and my drip system runs on a timer. I really don't want to water the general landscape because of tooth-hole sin my tubing.

These **** things are nothing but pests and my latest crusade is to eliminate them (temporarily). I've set up a hav-a-hart trap with wings in a prime area, but I've heard from locals that it's **** hard to get one to go into a trap.

Anyone have any interesting lore on how to deal with these little miscreants? I've dispatched several this winter when they come out in the daytime, but in the summer they only come out at night...

sendero · Jun 5, 2006

... but I've grown to HATE them.

I'm trying to do some absentee gardening at my Grayson county hideout. We've planted 10 pecan trees, which are mostly doing well, and a dozen blackberry bushes and a few blueberry bushes.

The #$%^#$ armadillos love to dig where we water the trees/shrubs, probably because there are bugs there. They dug up a couple of our bushes and damaged others. I put in a drip system Saturday, and Saturday night one bit into the tubing in three spots, which I had to repair. I'm only there on the weekends and my drip system runs on a timer. I really don't want to water the general landscape because of tooth-hole sin my tubing.

These **** things are nothing but pests and my latest crusade is to eliminate them (temporarily). I've set up a hav-a-hart trap with wings in a prime area, but I've heard from locals that it's **** hard to get one to go into a trap.

Anyone have any interesting lore on how to deal with these little miscreants? I've dispatched several this winter when they come out in the daytime, but in the summer they only come out at night...

Shimon · Jun 6, 2006

Good info here. Good luck.

Shimon · Jun 6, 2006

Good info here. Good luck.

RedRocker · Jun 6, 2006

Aren't they supposed to be out on the road legs up? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

RedRocker · Jun 6, 2006

Aren't they supposed to be out on the road legs up? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

PineRidge · Jun 6, 2006

Closest I've been to one is on the TV. They look to me like miniature tanks without the turrent. How do they fare against a 12 gauge shotgun?

PineRidge · Jun 6, 2006

Closest I've been to one is on the TV. They look to me like miniature tanks without the turrent. How do they fare against a 12 gauge shotgun?

BamaRob · Jun 6, 2006

I probably shouldn't tell this, but it is pretty funny...

A couple years ago, some buddies and I planned to hunt on some Corps of Engineers land. The land was designated as an archery only area and had lots of deer. We went down on a Friday and hunted all day. When evening came, we went to the nearest town to get rooms in the motel. Unfortuanately, there was a pretty big bass tournament going on and all of the rooms were taken. No vacancy! So, we drove back out to the Corps land and parked inside the gate (really don't know if we were supposed to spend the night there or not). The sign at the gate said that it would be locked at 10:00 PM. Fine with us, we didn't plan on going anywhere before morning anyway (I'm sure glad we didn't have a medical emergency during the night).

Anyhow, on with the story...

This was early October in Alabama. Temperatures were still fairly mild, and as all of the comfortable seats in the trucks were taken, I decided I would just sleep on the ground. I put the tailgate down on my buddies truck and crawled in under it so that I wouldn't have dew settling on me before morning. I was just getting to sleep good when I hear something in the leaves. It's getting closer and closer. Then, as it comes out of the leaves into the grass, I can't hear it walking anymore. But, I soon start hearing it breathing (snuffling, actually). I had no idea what it was, but it was getting close. I knew it couldn't be very big just from the sound of it and the fact that I could just make out it's form in the dim light. I figured it was an o'possum or a raccoon. Then, I felt it's nose touch my earlobe and it snuffled loudly right in my ear! I sat straight up and banged my head on the tailgate. As I got my wits about me, I saw it scurry off and recognized that it was an armadillo.

Of course banging my head on the tailgate woke the two guys that were sleeping in the cab. We all had a good laugh and went back to sleep. The next morning, as we were sitting around eating our cereal bars and cold toaster pastries, I look down the side of the road and see the armadillo rooting around in the grass. I grabbed my bow and dispatched "the cause of the knot on my head". There's a funny story there, also, but I won't go into it.

Later,

BR

BamaRob · Jun 6, 2006

I probably shouldn't tell this, but it is pretty funny...

A couple years ago, some buddies and I planned to hunt on some Corps of Engineers land. The land was designated as an archery only area and had lots of deer. We went down on a Friday and hunted all day. When evening came, we went to the nearest town to get rooms in the motel. Unfortuanately, there was a pretty big bass tournament going on and all of the rooms were taken. No vacancy! So, we drove back out to the Corps land and parked inside the gate (really don't know if we were supposed to spend the night there or not). The sign at the gate said that it would be locked at 10:00 PM. Fine with us, we didn't plan on going anywhere before morning anyway (I'm sure glad we didn't have a medical emergency during the night).

Anyhow, on with the story...

This was early October in Alabama. Temperatures were still fairly mild, and as all of the comfortable seats in the trucks were taken, I decided I would just sleep on the ground. I put the tailgate down on my buddies truck and crawled in under it so that I wouldn't have dew settling on me before morning. I was just getting to sleep good when I hear something in the leaves. It's getting closer and closer. Then, as it comes out of the leaves into the grass, I can't hear it walking anymore. But, I soon start hearing it breathing (snuffling, actually). I had no idea what it was, but it was getting close. I knew it couldn't be very big just from the sound of it and the fact that I could just make out it's form in the dim light. I figured it was an o'possum or a raccoon. Then, I felt it's nose touch my earlobe and it snuffled loudly right in my ear! I sat straight up and banged my head on the tailgate. As I got my wits about me, I saw it scurry off and recognized that it was an armadillo.

Of course banging my head on the tailgate woke the two guys that were sleeping in the cab. We all had a good laugh and went back to sleep. The next morning, as we were sitting around eating our cereal bars and cold toaster pastries, I look down the side of the road and see the armadillo rooting around in the grass. I grabbed my bow and dispatched "the cause of the knot on my head". There's a funny story there, also, but I won't go into it.

Later,

BR