armadillos

I have an armadillo putting small holes in lawn and in mulch path areas.
Do I leave the critter be or trap and get rid of them?

I am happy for them to eat bugs, but leave the worms alone and quit digging in the lawn, as i only have a small lawn due to all the shade from the pine trees.

I live 50 miles NW of Houston (Magnolia) Texas and i have 2.5 acres of mostly tall pine trees and yaupon bushes.
I am in the process of setting up for a 50x50 garden.

In my experience, live trapping them is fairly easy.


Ive found that setting an unbaited live trap, then build a "funnel fence" at 45 degree angles from each side of the trap entrance to a length of 8 to 16 feet is the preferences method in my area of Oklahoma.

The funnel fence only needs to be 6-8 inches tall.

Armadillos tend to like edges and have poor eyesight, so they will eventually find the trap during their forays through the property.

Disposing of the armadillo is a different matter all together.

I personally give the critter a final "swimming lesson" by placinging the whole trap in a compost tea tank for 30 minutes and then compost the whole carcass afterwards.

As for protecting a garden, I've found the surrounding the garden with a 16 inch welded wire fence, buried 4 inches in the ground tends to be quite effective.

I agree on trapping.  In most of the Southeastern US, they are invasive and cannot be relocated.  So, I spend a lot of my time trying to educate people that armadillos are not all carriers of disease and are good meat.  Being a Texan, I can only hope you have had armadillo pie and know just how very god this fascinating and wonderful critter can be.  I love armadillos.  They are cute, interesting and just plain cool. But, above all else, for me, they are good to eat.  Like wild rabbits(that ca also carry disease) , take care when dressing them.  Cook thoroughly.... and enjoy something most folks can't or won't experience!  I like cage traps for the, but a medium size... like 220, body grip will work just fine.... a "colony" style trap may work even better, especially if blind set.    

We have a mama armadillo nesting under our storage shed.  I would not eat her.  It's been years since they got into the garden.  I figure I should be able to outsmart an armadillo....