# Armadillo in the Moonlight



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

I really need to find something with more Lead in it to Whack Armadillos besides a Stove Poker.

Dog was raising cane last night behind the house.I go out there see a Armadillo in the Moonlight,I throw a rock at it,it runs back a little,then comes back,throw another rock,it ignores me :shrug: 

So I go back in the house get the Stove Poker,go out there,he runs for the Barn,I get him run out,he is standing there,I whack him with the Stove Poker.He jumps abouit a foot in the air,runs off :shrug: 

big rockpile


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## Bwana (Jul 9, 2006)

May I make a suggestion?










 

Dave


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

Catch the darn thing and eat it. They're actually pretty good, taste like pork.


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## MERRYMEDIC (Nov 24, 2005)

Why do you want to kill them? They are kinda cute  Get some ear plugs and let the dogs play with them until they get bored. My dogs were raising cane and had a skunk surrounded in the front yard. I went to bed and left that critter alone!!


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## quietstar (Dec 11, 2002)

As a youth growing up on the old Alexander ranch, my brother and I captured many after the dogs treed them in their holes. After a bath and drying, their plates were easy to paint with the many colors available from the assorted paint cans stored in the old barn. When anyone came across a "rainbowdiller" while working cattle it was good for a chuckle and conversation across the supper table. Art will find an outlet....Glen


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## Arkie1 (Jun 19, 2006)

I am new to Arkansas and see a lot of dead armadillos along the road which surprised me; I thought they were mostly in TX.

Anyway, what do they come onto homesteads looking for-chickens, vegetables, flower bulbs?? :shrug: I've never been around them so I'm trying to figure out what will need protection.


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## quietstar (Dec 11, 2002)

Arkie..I think they mostly eat ground living bugs and under the surface grubs. Their eyesight seems to be poor and I've called several to me by wiggling a finger in dry leaves on the ground. We all should aware that some may be Lepers...Glen


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## Arkie1 (Jun 19, 2006)

quietstar said:


> Arkie..I think they mostly eat ground living bugs and under the surface grubs. Their eyesight seems to be poor and I've called several to me by wiggling a finger in dry leaves on the ground. We all should aware that some may be Lepers...Glen


Lepers as in Leprosy  or Leapers as they jump? :shrug: Please tell me it was a typo and they are just little jumpers! :help:


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

Lepers. Armadillos are the only known animal other than humans that can support the mycobacterium leprae bacteria. They are used to grow the bacteria for laboratory purposes.

Not every human can get leprosy. It generally requires a genetic susceptibility, and close frequent contact with the bacterium in childhood. The actual effect of the bacteria is to kill nerves of sensation, so that people cannot feel damage to themselves and keep reinjuring themselves without knowing about it, resulting in scarring, additional infection by other bacteria, and tissue loss. It starts as a rash with loss of sensation in the affected area.

It can now be treated with specific antibiotics, usually given two or more at a time to make sure to really nail the bacteria and eliminate them.


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

So that's why my fingers and toes fell off. I thought it was just a bad case of athletes foot gone wild..


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

They can't see for shucks, the problem with them is they dig up things looking for worms and grubs, so can destroy a yard or garden overnight.

You can sneak up on one and catch it by the tail if you pick it up fast, don't let the feet come near your leg or it will do to you what it does to a yard.

During the Depression, they were called Hoover Hogs. Another problem is they did some major holes for dens.
Ed


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## Big Dave (Feb 5, 2006)

Those ones as big as volkwagons are hard to keep away from the Lone Star.


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

Arkie1 said:


> I am new to Arkansas and see a lot of dead armadillos along the road which surprised me; I thought they were mostly in TX.
> 
> Anyway, what do they come onto homesteads looking for-chickens, vegetables, flower bulbs?? :shrug: I've never been around them so I'm trying to figure out what will need protection.


They will dig most anywhere,but prefer to dig in areas of rich soil with lots of earthworms(like your veggie garden :grump: )The dens can be dangerous to livestock.A coupla' years ago,my next door reighbor sprained his ankle in an armadillo hole while chasing down a diller with his shotgun.Ironic,aint it?

I was fishing a gravel pit lake a few years ago,sitting on my five gallon bucket right at the shore,and hangin' into a grip of shellcrackers.Way out in the water,I saw what I figured must be a nutrea swimming towards me,but as it got closer,it wasn't swimming like a nutea,and I didn't know what the heck it was.Sure enough it was a diller,and he climbed out of the water directly in front of me,literally,almost on top of my boots.I didn't even know that they can/will swim.

Rockpile,my weapon of choice for armadillo battling is a shotgun with a surefire light mount and a full choke.#4 shot works best for me,and I use the cheap low brass stuff.Of course,you can always just run 'em over in your truck.


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

A .22 is sufficient to take care of the pests, three here so far.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

We had one up next to the back porch a couple weeks ago. Dogs were after him so we put the dogs in the house and shooshed the armadillo away. They don't bother us so we don't bother them. The less bugs around here, the better! Plus, the dogs dig more holes in the yard and the armadillos!

Best thing I've seen to kill them with is a speeding car.


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## Rockin'B (Jan 20, 2006)

_I was fishing a gravel pit lake a few years ago,sitting on my five gallon bucket right at the shore,and hangin' into a grip of shellcrackers._ 

Huh? 

What is hangin' into a grip of shellcrackers?

:shrug:


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## tulsamal (May 13, 2006)

I used to kill them with a .22 pistol when I was a child and then teenager. Then I got older and decided they fit into the "so ugly they are cute" category. Nobody is allowed to kill them on my propery. They make me laugh. I go out with a flashlight at night sometimes and look for them. You can walk right up to them and just stand there. They can't see well at all and I don't even think they hear very well. Right up until they catch your scent they will just ignore you. I've grabbed them by the tail and then tried to hold on while they just _sunk_ into the ground! Amazing how fast they can dig. Once they start digging you can't pull them backwards by their tails at all. (Well, maybe if you were REALLY pulling but I was always afraid I would seriously hurt one if I pulled that hard.)

The ones on my property dig little holes all over the place. I'm talking silver dollar size holes. They seem to sniff and then dig. Grub worms, I think.

I've heard the leprosy thing before. I'm not too worried. Read this:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990219.html

But I do wear gloves if I'm planning to try to grab one!

And that stuff about painting them totally cracks me up. It's tempting and it would make me a legend with my children.....

Gregg


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## cowgirlone (May 9, 2002)

I had one in my veggie garden this summer. What a pain!


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## Trapper (Jun 2, 2006)

Never seen a Ammadillo or "diller" in Wisconsin, painted or otherwise. Not even at the zoo :shrug: Guess there are to many roads between Texas and here.  If you ever need a new critter for the art canvas we'd like to send back your 'possums".  Trapper


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## Ozarkguy (Aug 13, 2003)

.

I must confess. I LIKE the silly things! My neighbors hate them and shoot them and do nothing but cuss about how they tear up the gardens and such.

But they are so DUMB they're funny!

Had a couple in camp. I hear bing, bing, bing and shine the spotlight on him as he keeps running into a pot I had out. Bing, bing, bing over and over until he switched directions. Duhhhhhh.....

And Mrs. Dillo was so smart she jumped up on my pile of wood and wouldn't move - hiding. I should mention this is about 3' from me and I was standing there with a flashlight looking at her, but she stayed there, certain she was hidden from the terrible human!

Then stupid Mr. Dillo went by and she followed him to frolic in the creek (again about 10' from me).

SILLY< not too smart critters, but funny! 

Arma ....d....d....d....dill....oooooooo's....



gotta love those hills.....

Ozarkguy







.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Never arm a diller.


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

The business about painting the armadillos reminded me of the monkey business we got into as teenagers. 

One project was to find, catch and castrate as many possums as we could in the little town where we lived, turning them loose to grow big and fat. We didn't know then that possums rarely live more than two or three years, so most of them certainly never were seen again. I certainly never saw one again.

The other project was to cruise the town at night and catch all the loose dogs. (a wiener or a biscuit is all it ever took). Once we had them we painted their butts red and released them. That project drew attention and was shut down to avoid detection. 
Ox


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

10% of armadillos carry leprosy..
They were digging in my front yard for grubs,went out and hit it with surefire and had pressure on trigger and decided I did'nt want to kill stupid things  .
On another forum someone suggested red pepper on ground,as my property is fenced except for front yard,I put trail of red pepper there and now they don't come back...


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

Rockin'B said:


> _I was fishing a gravel pit lake a few years ago,sitting on my five gallon bucket right at the shore,and hangin' into a grip of shellcrackers._
> 
> Huh?
> 
> ...


Shellcrackers are a large sunfish that feed mostly on mussles,crawfish,and other shellfish,hence the name.
I mean I was catching a bunch of 'em.


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## harrisjnet (Jul 13, 2006)

Armadillos are moving North. When I was a small child they were very scarce here in OK. Now they are everywhere. They dig for bugs and grubs alright, but they also eat turtle, taripin, toad and horned toad eggs. They have eaten so many that these poor little creatures are the ones becoming scarce. Not to mention Morell mushrooms. Armadillos have ruined all the hunting grounds I used to find the morells on. 
If you ever catch one, you will never forget the smell. WHEW!!! They smell like they died a week ago in a sewer.


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